Basket and Stars
by Line464d
Summary: What will happen when Lucy suddenly teleports to Earth after being beaten unconscious on a mission? What will she do when she meets Akashi and the Generation of Miracles? Why is she sent there? And how does she get back? Follow Lucy as she explores and befriends the people of Earth and handles travelling between worlds every time she falls asleep. What is the catch, though?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **So, guys, as I promised, a new story! Sorry I was so late out with it though, had to read the whole Kuroko no Basuke manga (just about 275 chapters plus a few), on top of handling preparations to the three examish-tests, it just didn't go as fast as I had hoped ._." And the fact I was a lazy cow too, didn't help anything either, didn't do** _ **anything**_ **this summer XD**

 **Anyway, it'll be much different from AMCF (Acnologia, my Childhood Friend), not only because it's a crossover, but also because- know what? I don't wanna spoil it :3**

 **Oh yeah, I decided to try experimenting a little, so I'll be writing in third-person this time around, hope it's to your liking!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: SLOWPOKE (Hiro Mashima) HAS RETURNED! - Still being stingy about his story. And so is Tadatoshi Fujimaki (Aka Abra), the owner of Kuroko no Basuke, in case you were wondering~ Yes, Abra wrote Kuroko no Basuke and started on a second season, but then he just disappeared from the face of the Earth O.o**

 **At the Guild Fairy Tail~**

"Lucy." Someone called from behind Lucy, making her jump in surprise. She was sitting at the bar, lost in thought, mainly wondering how in the world she was supposed to pay her rent this month.

The blonde woman slowly turned in her seat and looked up at the red-headed knight in front of her. Lucy's face lit up in a bright smile as she recognized the one in front of her. "Hi, Erza!" She greeted Erza. It was a wonder the heavy armored mage could sneak up on her like that, but apparently she could.

The Requip mage returned the blonde with a gentle smile. She just couldn't help it, not with the bright one directed at her. "Hello, Lucy." She greeted back. She held a piece of paper out to Lucy. "I found a mission I thought Team Natsu could go on." She informed the blonde.

Lucy looked from Erza to the job-paper and back again, before she reached out and gently took it, turning it to face herself. It wasn't one she could recognize from the board, was it new? She quickly realized why she hadn't seen it, when she saw the red stamp at the top right corner of it.

Erza crossed her arms and smiled, already aware that the Celestial mage had figured out what kind of job it was. "It's S-Class." She said anyway, just in case she'd been wrong, somehow.

The blonde's head whipped up and she stared at the mage in front of her in shock. Not long ago Team Natsu had gone on an S-Class job, since Erza had thought they could handle it. And they could, they cleared the job, but because of Natsu and Gray's destructive… Tendencies, most of the Jewels from their reward went to repairs of the town. Lucy had thought that they'd wait with taking another one until the two boys had matured a little - if that was even possible.

Erza only shook her head at Lucy, before the blonde could begin raising the protests the redhead knew were coming. Lucy always was a cautious one, especially regarding S-Class missions. She always ridiculously underestimates herself, for absolutely no reason. "Don't worry, it's not as difficult as the last one." She reassured Lucy as she gestured to the piece of paper with her iron-clad hand.

Lucy glanced up at the woman in front of her, before looking down at the paper again, this time really reading it over.

 _HELP NEEDED!  
A group of bandits are wreaking havoc in our town! Please save us!  
3-6 bandits!_

 _At least one S-Class mage acquired!  
Destination: Acacia Town  
Reward: 1.000.000 Jewels_

Lucy looked up at Erza with furrowed eyebrows. She knew Acacia was a little town lying in the middle of Fiore, surrounded by wildlife and big trees. There was no doubt it was a beautiful place, but because it was so closely hidden between the many trees, it was also very easy to attack. But that wasn't what bothered her. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't the reward ridiculously high?" She asked the Knight. After splitting it in four, she'd still have 250.000 Jewels, that would be enough for three months, and a little on top of that too.

Erza smiled at the Blonde and nodded, proud that the young mage so easily noticed that. "That's exactly why I picked it." She told her. "You've been mentioning that you have been lacking Jewels for your rent lately, so I thought excess Jewels would do you good for once." She said. Since Erza was an S-Class mage, she never had to worry about rent. Fairy Hills was extremely cheap to live in anyhow, it was a mystery to the Knight why her adopted little sister hadn't moved in over there yet.

Lucy looked up at Erza with a radiant smile, practically jumped off the chair and threw her arms around the other woman with her exaggerated tears of joy flying in every direction. "Thank you, Erza!" With this many Jewels, it almost didn't matter what Gray and Natsu did to the place, it would still be enough for her to pay her rent.

Erza was completely baffled with Lucy's sudden burst of tears, immediately thinking something was wrong. She quickly realized it was tears of joy the Celestial mage was spraying all over the place, and wrapped her arms around the blonde, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm glad I can help you out, Lucy." She told her. It always made Erza happy when she could help the people around her.

With Erza's heavy and strong arms squeezing her to Erza's literally iron-hard chest, Lucy quickly found it a problem to breathe. She weakly tried pushing the other mage a little, but it didn't seem to work. "Erza…!" She somehow managed to breathe out. Unfortunately, the redhead was too caught up in her happiness at being able to help her friend to hear a single thing, so Lucy figured she had to try again. "Can't… Breathe!" She warned her friend, but still, Erza didn't react. Gradually, Lucy began feeling light-headed, faintly registering the blood leaving her head.

Mira looked up from the glass she was polishing as she heard Lucy's muffled cries for help. She began giggling when she saw Erza's happy expression. Ever since Lucy had joined, somehow the guild had seemed happier, especially Erza. Before Team Natsu existed Erza would go on missions alone and her smiles would be few. But that had changed completely since the bright beacon of light Lucy was, had shown up and wormed her way into everyone's hearts.

"Erza." A gentle, yet kind of firm voice called out at the Requip mage's right, pushing her out of her stupor and looking up at the one talking to her. "You're choking her." Mira told Erza with her usual bright smile as she gestured to Lucy with the rag she had been cleaning the glasses with.

Lucy heard a gasp before the arms that were squeezing the consciousness out of her - and the only way for her to stand on her feet - disappeared and she fell to the ground in a panting heap. She didn't have time to catch herself before she tilted backwards, her head hitting the ground and the black spots of unconsciousness quickly possessed her sight.

A bright white light appeared behind Lucy's eyes, as bright as if she'd been standing right in front of the sun, staring into the globe of fire without blinking. It was completely silent, except the faint whispers on the wind. "Akashi... Help…" She faintly heard it say, before the whiteness disappeared and she regained her consciousness.

Erza quickly fell on her knees next to Lucy, placing her hands on the blonde woman's shoulder and gently shaking her, when she saw her friend fading into unconsciousness. "Lucy!" She called for her friend and shook her a little harder, making the brown orbs flutter open, much to the redhead's relief. "I'm so sorry Lucy!" She quickly apologized to her, already feeling her conscience gnawing at her. "Are you all right?" She asked her friend worriedly, hardly giving her any time to reply.

Lucy giggled at Erza and nodded reassuringly at her. "I'm just fine, Erza. I just lost my balance for a moment there." She told her and accepted the hand she was offered, using it to pull herself up. "Thank you." She said gratefully and dusted herself off. The floor of the guild wasn't exactly what you would call clean. No matter how many times you actually cleaned it, people would always drag dirt in as they arrived, there was just no helping it. As soon as Lucy was finished, she looked up at Erza again. "About the job, when are we leaving?" She asked.

Erza gave the blonde a relieved smile, happy that she hadn't actually hurt the girl. She wouldn't forgive herself if she had. "In two hours." She announced, feeling a hint of excitement bubbling in her at the prospect at going on a mission, which would maybe be a bit more difficult than usual. She turned around, towards the current brawl in the middle of the guild with her hands on her hips and a determined expression. "NATSU! GRAY!" She yelled at her two team mates.

The two almost teleported out of the dust ball of people and stood in front of Erza with a salute, beat up and all. They knew never to ignore that woman - everyone did. "AYE SIR!" They said nervously, fearing they had somehow done something to enrage the redhead.

 **Two hours later~**

As usual, the team had decided to meet up in front of the fountain in the middle of Magnolia, since they all passed it when they went to the station from their homes.

Lucy had been the first one to show up - as usual - so she sat down at the ledge of the beautiful fountain spraying with almost turquoise water behind her. She closed her eyes and reveled in the fresh midday air and enjoyed the feeling of the small, cool droplets of water from the fountain hitting her bare arms. She smiled as she heard the happy talking from the people around her. Magnolia had always been such a happy city, the polar opposite of the Heartfilia Konzern almost.

Natsu had easily packed what he needed - which was nearly nothing - and quickly ran to the fountain with his best buddy flying right next to him as he ran to his destination. When he saw the blonde sitting at the ledge, he couldn't help the wide smile that made its way to his face. "Oi, Luce!" He called out to his partner. "What'cha doing?" He asked her, wondering if maybe she could have been sleeping.

Lucy cracked an eye open and smiled at him in return. "Just enjoying my surroundings." She told him earnestly. As if a light bulb had turned on above her head, Lucy suddenly remembered something quite important. "Oh, that's right!" She said to herself as she quickly dug down into the bag she had brought with her. Without much trouble, she found what she had been searching for wrapped securely in food-paper. She began unwrapping it and held it out towards the blue Exceed when it was all cleared. "This is for you, Happy." She told him with her usual radiant smile.

Happy's face lit up quickly - even though he had also been happy before - and he fast-forwarded to the blonde's hand and grabbed his gift in his paws, holding it up in front of him. "FISH! Thank you, Lushy!" He thanked the woman as he landed on the ledge next to her and began munching on his fish in a state of bliss.

Natsu quickly made his way to the other side of his partner and threw an arm around her shoulder as his butt landed on the cobblestones. "Ready to kick some bandit-ass, Luce?" He asked her excitedly, already looking immensely forward to the upcoming job. "I'm all fired up!" He reassured her, lighting his fist on fire for emphasis.

Lucy sweat dropped at him, remembering their last S-Class mission with the team. "Yeah, I'm sure you are. But please don't burn down a sacred forest filled with threatened animals this time around, okay?" She asked him, giggling a little at the memory. It really was ridiculous.

"If he does, I'll make sure to give him the proper punishment." Erza reassured them as she approached. She'd just caught the last of their conversation, before she saw her opportunity to make her presence known. They looked up at her with surprise, and Natsu with a hint of fear, probably wondering how she could manage to sneak up on people with that big cart behind her. She looked around for the last member of their team. "Where's Gray?" She asked, demanding they know.

Natsu grunted, not entirely feeling like talking about the Ice Queen. "That idiot probably got lost." He said, already getting annoyed just talking about him. "Can't even find around in his own pocket." He said with - fake, even though he would never admit it - disgust lacing his voice.

"Oi, Fire Breath! I heard that you bastard." Gray said with a scowl, before he quickly shot off the ground, flashing past Happy and Lucy, and landing a solid hit in Natsu's face, sending him whirling away. As he ignored Natsu's insults, Gray turned to Erza. "Tch, I didn't get lost." He told her. "Only that Fire Breathing Moron would do something as stupid as that." He grunted in disgust at comparing himself to that guy. "I was held up." He simply said and gestured behind him with a single nod, before getting a hit in return from Natsu, starting a fight between the two.

Ignoring their usual banter, Erza and Lucy both turned to look in the direction Gray had gestured, and sweat dropped at how obvious it all was. A little, blue head peeped out from behind a building, watching with hearts in her eyes as Gray threw his clothes away.

Lucky as Lucy was, those exact clothes landed right on top of her head. She sighed and took the clothes off, gently folding them over her arm, knowing he'd forget the articles otherwise. Right about then, she felt daggers were slicing into her back and a shudder forced its way up her spine. She could hear a distant 'Love-Rival' being hissed at her and shuddered again, already fearing Juvia's wrath.

Erza looked down at the blonde, catching the last of her shudders and looking at her with a worried expression. "Are you not feeling well, Lucy?" She asked her, wondering if they should take the mission some other day.

Lucy looked up at the Knight and shook her head with a smile, trying not to be too affected by the daggers being thrown at her from behind. "No, I'm perfectly fine. Thank you, Erza." She reassured her, the best she could with the daggers being thrown at her.

Erza nodded at her, reassuring herself that was the truth, then strode to the two boys, who were already exchanging fists. She grabbed their heads and smashed them together, effectively stopping their fight as they fell to the ground. "We're leaving." She announced as she grabbed her cart and continued forward, not paying any mind at all to the two bumps she encountered. It seemed they needed to check the roads around here, maybe she would contact the major when she returned.

Lucy giggled at the sounds the two made as they were rolled over, knowing it wasn't anything serious - since it wasn't the first time - and approached them as they got up. She held Gray's clothes out to him when she stopped up in front of him, since Natsu had already run after Erza with Happy flying around head, still not done with his fish. "Here you go, Gray." She smiled at him, once again feeling another wave of daggers thrown at her.

Gray looked down at the clothes she was holding, wondering what she wanted him to do with those clothes. It didn't take long before he had an idea though, and as he looked down his bare chest, his suspicions were confirmed. "HOW THE HELL?!" He asked himself loudly, once again wondering when he'd discarded his clothes. He sighed to calm himself down and smiled at Lucy, pulling her into a sideways hug. "You're a lifesaver, Lucy!" He told her gratefully and took the clothes, beginning to dress himself. How he'd survive without Lucy taking his clothes with her when he threw them off, he'd never know.

Meanwhile, Lucy just stood stiffly, feeling her impending doom lurking behind the building with blue, curled hair. She carefully glanced back at Juvia, seeing the Rain woman hissing like a snake and being surrounded in a worse atmosphere of death than what Mira sometimes had. Lightning was practically shooting at Lucy from her eyes, and it made Lucy sweat a little in fear of the Water mage actually killing her.

Gray quickly grabbed Lucy's wrist and pulled her after him, when he was fully clothed, aiming to catch up to Erza, Natsu and Happy as quickly as possible. "Come on, don't want the demon angry!" He said to Lucy, referring to the other woman of their team.

Lucy let herself be dragged after him willingly, knowing Erza was much gentler than Juvia at this point. Besides, she knew the crazy - but lovable - Rain woman would follow them. Maybe even board the same train as them and stalking Gray throughout the whole mission. It wouldn't be the first time…

Gray and Lucy quickly caught up to Natsu, Erza and Happy, and while Lucy fell into pace with Erza, Gray began arguing with Natsu again, although none of them dared go into a full-blown fist-fight with each other since they'd only just been broken up from one.

Both Erza and Lucy walked in silence, as the noise of the people in the background lulled them into their thoughts.

Lucy didn't know exactly what it was, but something in her told her that the day would be special. How, she had no idea, the only thing she knew was that something revolutionary would happen. Maybe… Did it have something to do with those two words she'd heard when she was unconscious? 'Akashi' and 'Help'? Akashi… Was it the name of a person or a city? Lucy hadn't heard of a city or town in Fiore with that name, but maybe it was on another continent. Maybe it was a whole third thing. She couldn't help wondering how in the world she could help whatever or whoever it was.

She got the feeling she would find out before she was back at Fairy Tail again and wondered if it had something to do with the mission. Speaking of the mission, that reward was still ridiculously high. For those 3-6 bandits they were supposed to fight, that was way too much. It was understandable if there were 12 or if they were mages, but because they were just bandits… Well, actually it could go for a mission on the 'ordinary' board. It would be one of the harder ones, no doubt about that, but it was definitely not S-Class. What could they be hiding?

Lucy was pulled out of her thoughts when suddenly her whole body jerked and something heavy landed in her lap to stay there. She shook her head and looked around, only now realizing she was already sitting in the train and a motion-sick Natsu had dropped his head on her lap, looking and feeling like he could barf any moment.

She smiled gently down at him, earlier topic completely forgotten, as she began gently combing his spiky hair with her finger, massaging his scalp a little as her fingers passed through. Natsu almost immediately felt the effect of Lucy's hands releasing all the tension he'd had as he struggled to keep his breakfast indoors. He never said it to anyone, but when she ran her fingers through his hair like this, his motion-sickness disappeared completely, and he simply lay there because he loved the feeling of her small hands rubbing circles in his scalp.

While Happy was happily munching on at the fish Lucy had given him earlier - it was a big one - Gray and Erza discussed the details about the mission. It didn't take long before Lucy decided to tune in on the conversation, hoping that this was the way they would prevent destroying half the town and losing just as much of the reward.

 **Later, right outside Acacia~**

Acacia wasn't at all the beautiful town it had once been. Team Natsu found that out when they arrived there. It had been a quaint, little town before, in the middle of the woods with wildlife crawling up houses and animals passing peacefully through, but now… Barely any of the big, ancient trees which had decorated the town were left sanding and several of the houses were heaps of wood and bricks on the ground. It almost looked like Gray and Natsu had broken into a fight there once before.

The Team didn't get much out of the major either. He was the one who had requested their help. Unfortunately he knew no more than what was written on the job-paper. He told them every time the bandits attacked, they'd come from every side of the town, so he didn't know where their base was either.

So with that miniscule information, all five went to search for their base, deciding they might as well get it done and over with as fast as possible. So far they'd let Natsu take the lead, letting him follow what he heard and smelled, hoping that it'd somehow lead them to the HQ of the bandits.

Currently, the Dragon Slayer was on all fours on the ground, sticking his nose and ear further down alternately as he figured out where the enemy might be hiding. He was so focused on his work, he didn't even care about the comments on how stupid he looked from Gray, so it didn't take long before the Ice Make mage gave up taunting him.

Suddenly, Natsu stopped up and raised his head to the side and scrunching his face up in concentration. He felt like he had found a lead, their scent was strong here and fanned out in many directions towards the town, only to collect here, as if they'd walked in a group the rest of the way. He faintly heard Erza stopping the other three from moving any further, waiting for him to figure it all out before advancing.

Natsu glanced back at his team mates and nodded with a determined expression, facing forward again, in the direction he figured the base would lie in. "I think I found them." He said in a low voice and sped off in the direction he looked.

Lucy watched as Natsu crawled over the ground like some kind of deformed dog with a slightly stunned expression at his speed. "You've got to wonder how he does that." She commented as she followed the other three as they followed Natsu trying their best to keep up with his insane speed.

Before long, a dull blue, completely squared building of some kind of metal - probably aluminum - came into sight between the trees. Natsu looked back at the other four with a grin and a nod, he'd indeed found it. Not that the other four had expected any less, even though some of them - namely Gray - would never admit it.

Natsu got up on his feet and punched his own palm, fire erupting around his hands. "I'm all fired up!" He commented with fire bursting out of his mouth.

Gray nodded, as he absentmindedly threw his jacket and shirt all over the place. "Let's go kick some ass!" He agreed with his rival, for once not fighting with him. The temperature dropped to a comfortable coolness around him and a little steam appeared where Natsu's heat and his cold met.

Erza nodded and materialized one of her swords into her had. "Yes, let's rid the world of these evil-doers." She also agreed - even though they would never kill anybody - as she pointed forward with her sword and sent the boys to quickly charge the building, magic floating intensely in the air around them. She quickly joined them, her sword ready to beat a bandit or three.

Lucy stood a little behind, sighing as she didn't get a chance to say they had an advantage in the element of surprise, but quickly finding that advantage destroyed when Natsu released a loud battle-roar loud enough for the people back in Acacia to hear it.

Since she was pretty sure that building wasn't isolated from sound, she knew the bandits knew they were under attack and were likely to erupt from the doors at any time. She pulled out her newest Gold key and swiped it in the air. "Open! Gate of the Lion! Leo!" She chanted.

Accompanied with a golden light and the sound of bells, Loke appeared in the smoke. "Your knight in shining armor has appeared, Princess!" Loke reassured Lucy as he swept her up in his arms, before she could say anything. And just because he wanted to.

Lucy smiled at the orange-haired Lion Spirit, already somewhat used to his flirtatious way of showing his affection. Which was more often than not misunderstood. "Hi Loke, if you'd put me down-" She started out but was cut off as bandits actually began erupting from the building. Which, by the way, now was half on fire, half frozen over and had swords sticking out everywhere. It looked like it could crumble to the ground at the gentlest of breezes.

She pulled out her whip, still in Loke's arms, and lashed at the ground, drawing the bandits' attention. The three bandits who were already outside of the building quickly saw her and ran in their direction. Those were three out of the maximum of six… Well, either way, they wouldn't be a problem, especially not when Lucy had Loke with her too.

But Loke could already feel the magic oozing from the approaching three men, wondering what Lucy had gotten herself into. Deciding not to dwell on it, he put the love of his long life down on the ground and took a protective step in front of her. He couldn't help it - it was in his nature, both as a Spirit and a Lion.

Lucy had known the major was hiding something. A town couldn't just be destroyed like that, if it hadn't been with the help of magic, she didn't believe his words for one second - when she'd seen the town. And it was with good reason obviously, as the three men began charging their magic.

Their magic swelled around them, revealing what kind of mages they were. They were all Casters, one with the Fire magic, one with Water and one with Lightning. This would most likely be a difficult match for the two, but still they believed with everything they had that they could win this.

Loke crouched down a little, following each and every move the three men made to harm the woman who had saved him from death, like a predator watching his foe. He knew that the best deal he'd have was to let these men make the first step. Luckily they didn't seem too smart.

When Lucy cracked the whip once again, it acted as a mark to start, as the men all quickly charged their magic at the same time. The Water mage sent a wave of Water at the two, probably aiming to wash them away. What he hadn't expected was for the two to have faced much worse - Aquarius.

Loke simply used his ring magic to smash a hole through the weak wave, big enough for both Lucy and himself, and smiled challengingly at them all.

This seemed to piss the Lightning mage off, as he jumped into the air, a fist crackling with his magic aimed at the Lion Spirit. Loke let the enemy come in close, before reaching out to push at the guy's arm, redirecting his route and then a second later jabbing a knee right into his stomach, making the air wheeze out of him painfully.

Just as Loke looked up, he saw a flaming foot approaching him too quickly for him to could react in time. Right as he braced himself for the impact, which never came. "Don't you dare forgetting about me!" He heard Lucy said behind him as her whip wrapped around the mage's ankle. With a single flick of her hand, the mage was set flying into tree.

Loke smiled back at Lucy gratefully, before turning back to the battle in front of him. He let Lucy take care of the Fire mage for now, fully confident that she was strong enough, while he took on the Water and the Lightning mage. He growled lowly at them, determined not to let them through.

Lucy backed a little, so she stood back to back with her Lion Spirit. She knew he was letting her off easy, leaving her with only the Fire mage, while he took the other two on. While it was true she wasn't exactly hiding behind him, she wasn't entirely fighting with him either. And she didn't like that. She knew he wasn't underestimating her - he never would - but it still irked her. Either way, it just meant she would have to get rid of this Fire mage as quickly as possible, so she could help Loke.

The Fire mage quickly steadied himself from the rough meeting with the tree and grinned when he found out who his opponent was. The blonde woman. Ah, well, that wasn't entirely true. The _smoking hot_ blonde woman. This was sure to be an easy fight, he had no doubt about that. Maybe he could have some fun when he was all done with her.

Lucy watched as the man's eyes turned lecherous right alongside his smirk and could only internally roll her eyes. Why did she always end up with the perverted ones? She snapped her whip with a sigh and quickly lashed at her opponent. The whip tore a hole in his shirt and left a red mark running down his stomach, blood slowly forming at the long line.

The guy grunted at his lack in attention and charged forward at the girl, his fist lit up in reddish orange flames. Lucy tried to deflect him with her whip, but he only hissed at the new wound as he continued to hit Lucy's stomach with his fiery fist, making the bottom of her clothes burst into flames. She quickly padded her own stomach, to stop the fire, seemingly ignoring the pain she'd gotten from his punch. Both much to the guy's dissatisfaction.

Lucy looked up at her opponent with a glare. "I've been hit by flames much worse than yours! This is nothing!" She promised him as she once again lashed out with her whip.

The guy quickly evaded the leather strap and looked back at the girl, his lecherous smirk still in place. "Oh yeah?" He asked her challengingly, once again lighting his fists on fire, aiming to do the same trick once again.

Before he got too close, Lucy wrapped the whip tightly around his ankle and pulled, making the guy trip forward. He wouldn't get her with the same thing twice in a row. He couldn't do anything to save himself and banged the back of his head into a sharp rock, diving into the darkness of unconsciousness almost immediately.

Lucy looked down at the man, seeing he'd banged his head into the rock and breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry!" She quickly apologized with a high pitched voice, before pulling her whip back and turning to the fight behind her, only to see Loke being hit with a combination of Lightning and Water. "LOKE!" She screamed when her Lion Spirit was hit with the Lightning enhanced by the Water. He exploded into a golden light with a roar, leaving Lucy alone with the two.

Before she had any time to react to anything, the two mages sent another combo of Lightning and Water at her, hitting her spot on, sending shockwaves of electricity through her. A black smoke coming from the flesh they burned rose and soon after revealed her still standing. That should have knocked her out, how was she still on her feet?

Lucy glared at the two men in front of her through the black smoke, not at all paying attention to her burned flesh and tattered clothes. Those two had dared hurting her Spirit right in front of her, now there was hell to pay for them. She knew with that combination of theirs, none of her Spirits would be able to withstand it, so she had to take care of them herself. Which was also what she'd had in mind.

The two mages felt a chill run down their spine at the look she was giving them, almost feeling like their death was standing in front of them, in the form of that single girl. Suddenly, that chill turned into yet another of their smirks. They had something in mind, and it was a sure-shot at defeating that girl. "Sweetheart, what makes you think we came alone?" He asked her.

Lucy realized in an instant that she was standing with her back to the destroyed building. She whirled around when she felt a presence behind her, only to come face-to-face with a wooden club, which sent her shooting into unconsciousness for the second time that day.

The now three men grinned at each other, before approaching the blonde, who had fallen forward, landing on her stomach with her head facing to the side. The man with the club knelt down and was about to push her over, so she was lying on her back, but just as his fingers grazed her, she disappeared in a flash of golden light.

All three widened their eyes at the sudden disappearance of the girl and looked at each other, hoping for answers. "You all… Just saw that, right?" The one with the club asked the others hesitantly. They just nodded silently.

They were all quickly brought out of the situation, when they heard someone behind them. "GRAY-SAMA! Juvia will help you!" a blue-haired woman screeched as she sent a sharp half-moon of water at them. "Water Slicer!" She yelled.

 **At Earth, Tokyo~**

Akashi and Midorima were walking silently home after a long day of basketball training at Teiko. Midorima pushed his glasses up and looked down at the redhead walking next to him with the forever cunning expression. "What are your plans now, Akashi?" He asked his fellow basketball player.

Akashi looked up at him with a smile playing in his red eyes as he threw the basketball from one hand to the other and back again. "I was thinking of playing some basketball at the street-court further down this street. What do you say, Midorima?" He asked the green haired guy.

Midorima nodded with his usual scowl, unnecessarily pushing his glasses up again. "In fact, I think that's a good idea." He agreed, looking forward, where he could see the court Akashi had mentioned.

It was only a few week ago the first year of their middle-school lives had begun. Of course, they'd immediately moved up to the first grade players of Teikou and as it looked they had a pretty big chance at playing with the third years.

They were the first ever to move directly up in the first grade as a first year among the ones who played basket on their school, so they were a hot topic at their school. Of course, the two of them weren't the only ones, there were two others, Atsushi Murasakibara and Daiki Aomine. Those two names, Seijuro Akashi and Shintaro Midorima would be known many years into the future. They'd make sure of that themselves.

When the two closed in on the court, they noticed someone sleeping on one of the benches. Something about the person piqued Akashi's interest and instead of walking to his original destination, he stopped up the few meters before the court, where the bench was.

He'd first thought it was some kind of drunkard, who had fallen asleep there, but that certainly wasn't the case. Instead of some old man, a beautiful - to say the least - young woman lay there. She had long, golden hair, which seemed to reach just below her shoulders and very feminine features. But then… what caught his attention was that what had previously been nice, soft skin was marred with burns and wounds. I looked like she'd been fighting against flames. Her clothes were also tattered and torn, so much so it was inappropriate. Was she really sleeping or was she unconscious?

Midorima glanced at Akashi, after having finished studying the woman on the bench. "Akashi?" He asked the smaller redhead.

Akashi looked down at the woman in front of him. He would never be able to explain it if anyone asked, but a dominating part of him was telling him he should help this girl out. Without even acknowledging Midorima's question, he threw the ball to his companion. "Hold this." He told him as he shrugged his blazer off and laid it over the woman. Even though it was much too small for her, it covered what needed to be covered.

Just as he thought he'd done the good deed of the day, and he could return to practicing basket with Midorima, the woman sat up with a jolt, before falling down again with a pained moan.

Lucy looked around confusedly, flinching when the movement sent an intense pain through her head. She had absolutely no idea where she was. One moment she was in that forest right outside Acacia being knocked down by three men, the next she was there, at a bench somewhere she had never seen the likes of before. The buildings were much, _much_ taller than what was normal in Fiore - even among high class - it was like they were touching the clouds. Big posters hang all around, seemingly advertising their own products. Big screens sat on some of the big buildings, flashing advertisement after advertisement with stuff she hadn't seen before, and she couldn't see any Lacrima anywhere.

She felt someone touching her shoulder and jumped, almost falling off her seat. Right there in front of her stood two boys, seemingly about 13-14 years old.

One had green hair, stopping right above his eyebrows, a few shades darker than Bisca's and had eyes the same color, if not a little lighter, and was wearing glasses and a scowl. The other had hair as red as Erza's, hanging in long bangs over his forehead, and two red eyes similar to his hair in color. Somehow his eyes reminded her of snake's eyes, the way they were slit.

Midorima looked at the confused woman with a raised brow. He didn't know exactly what to make of her, she seemed weird to him. As if she'd dropped down into another world. Maybe.. Had she been drunk and then fallen asleep here, not remembering anything at all? It definitely was a possibility…

Akashi examined the girl in front of him with a curious eye. There was definitely something special about her. First of all, she didn't seem to be from Japan at all, judging by the color of her hair. Anyhow, first of all, how had she gotten all those wounds? He wanted to ask her, but he didn't know how to ask.

Lucy tore her gaze away from the boys and only now noticed a blazer she didn't recognize was thrown over her, covering her torso and the top of her thighs. She smiled a little inwardly at the kind of little size of it, then realized she was probably dirtying it with all of her wounds. She sat up - slowly this time - and picked it up, holding it out to the red haired boy, seeing he wasn't wearing one, like his friend was. "Is this yours?" She asked him with a smile.

Akashi was momentarily struck in awe at the radiant smile the woman was giving him, but quickly came to his senses again. "Yes, it is." He confirmed for her and held his hand out. "Please use it to cover yourself." He asked of her. His upbringing just didn't allow him to let a lady walk around so inappropriately.

Lucy looked from the blazer to the boy and she gave him an unsure expression. "Are you sure? I'll just make it dirty." She reminded him.

Akashi gave her a curt nod. "Yes, please do. It can be washed once we find something else." He told her earnestly. He didn't know what was coming over him, but he just had a need to help this woman.

Lucy beamed brightly at him in gratitude. Without the blazer covering her, she could feel the cold air brushing her skin places where her shirt and skirt should have covered her. "Thank you so much…?" She trailed off, realizing she didn't even know the boys' names.

Akashi nodded, also realizing he hadn't introduced himself, which was a breach of his manners. "I'm Seijuro Akashi, you can just call me Akashi, and this is Shintaro Midorima." He introduced himself and Midorima.

Midorima pushed his glasses up, letting the sun reflect in them. "You can also call me Midorima." He told her, getting a little curious about this woman, who seemed to be of some interest to his friend. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss…?" He trailed off, urging her to introduce herself, just as they had done.

Lucy nodded and smiled to both of them. "Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia!" She introduced herself, already gushing inside like a mini-Mira at the cuteness of the two boys. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" She said as she gave them a handshake, sitting properly on the bench.

Even though he had seen it before, it once again hit him just how injured this woman was. He looked up into her smiling, warm chocolate eyes. "I don't live very far from here… Would you want to take care of your wounds there, Lucy?" He asked her, not even realizing how out of character it was for him to suggest. She wasn't like anyone else he knew, none of them would urge him to use their first name from the very start.

Midorima _did_ notice though. While he had only known Akashi for the duration of a few week, he had a somewhat firm grasp on who the boy was. And helping people out like this sure didn't belong to his usual behavior. And it only added to his already steadfastly growing interest in this lady.

Lucy looked at the boy in surprise. She honestly hadn't expected anything like that from him, but he had let her borrow that blazer, the easiest would be if she went with him. It made sense, when she thought about it. She nodded and flashed him yet another grateful smile. "I would very much like that." She told him.

Midorima and Akashi stepped back as they gave her the space she needed to get up from the bench. Judging by the injuries she had already sustained, Midorima doubted she would be able to stand - at least at first try. And he was proved to be right, when her legs shook as she stood. A hand quickly flew to her head as she scrunched her face up in pain.

Lucy hadn't realized how severe her injuries had actually been, but it made sense, if she took a moment to think about it. She'd been hit by a fire-punch in her stomach, and had afterwards been hit by a combination of water and lightning. Remembering back, she faintly remembered seeing those two's expression being one of shock. Had she been supposed to get knocked out by that?

She gently shook her head and pulled herself together. After the kindness these two boys had shown her, she didn't want to look weak in front of them. She calmed herself and steadied her legs, standing straight as if nothing had ever happened to her. She swung the tiny blazer over her shoulders, which hardly even reached and did what she could to cover her bare front with the little size of it.

Akashi watched with a raised eyebrow and a form for respect for Lucy, as she calmed herself and didn't look like her injuries affected her at all, even with how grave they were. Akashi took a step in the direction of where he lived. "It's this way." He told her, knowing Midorima already knew.

Midorima fell into pace with the two, walking in the direction of where Akashi's house lay. He glanced up at Lucy as he walked next to her. She was special… Different from any of the women he'd met. That he was sure of.

Lucy walked with Akashi on one side and Midorima on the other, while she once again found herself getting trapped in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if all of this was a dream. It was impossible for screens like the ones on all these buildings to exist without Lacrima, and there wasn't a single building in Fiore half as tall as these ones, so it couldn't be anything else. She could barely feel the Eternano in the air, but it was only very little. So little it was basically nothing.

Whether it was a dream or not, Lucy figured that in this world, magic didn't exist. It basically couldn't with how little Eternano there was. So, just because, she also chose to not show any hints of magic, even though her whip and keys were dangling by her belt, although you wouldn't notice them with how the blazer hung over her shoulders.

She looked down at Akashi and smiled brightly. Again. "Thank you so much, Akashi and Midorima, for helping me." She said, when suddenly her mind clicked. _Akashi_ and _help._ Those were the words which got stuck on her mind, when she fell unconscious back at the guild. What did all of this mean..?

Midorima looked up at the woman, who seemed a little far away at the moment. He didn't let it bother him though as he nodded and faced forward again. "It was the only right thing to do." He simply said.

Akashi nodded in agreement as he turned the corner and arrived at the familiar street, where he lived. "I live right down here." He informed them.

Lucy felt a twitch of familiarity when Akashi stopped up in front of a big house, which seemed way too similar to the one she'd grown up in herself. It was big, first of all, not tall like the ones back where they came from, but more broad and spread out. That and the garden around it was big too. Not as big as what she'd lived in - but apparently that was ridiculous to compare to anything, if her team's reaction was anything to go by.

Akashi pushed the gate open knowing that their butler had a day off that day, which in his eyes was convenient, given the circumstances. Although the maidens would still be present, the house was hardly ever completely empty. It'd be all right either way, they were always busy doing other things.

All three of them walked up through the front yard and up to the entrance of Akashi's home. Lucy hadn't thought she would ever be back in these kind of surroundings, she'd run away from it all after all, but here she was. Well, it was different this time, but she was still there.

Midorima glanced at Lucy from the corner of his eye while pushing his glasses up. Lucy's posture had changed, she was standing completely straight and with an almost completely blank expression. Her whole body seemed stiff and tense though, as if it was uncomfortable for her. Was it her first time coming to such a rich family's house?

Lucy looked down at Akashi and smiled a little smile. "It's a very beautiful home you have, Akashi." She complimented him, feeling like she should say _something_ to ease the slight tension in the air.

Akashi looked up at her and nodded. "Thank you, Lucy-san. I hope you feel welcome." He said as they all reached the front door. He pushed the button on the remote hanging on the wall, calling one of the maids. "Open the door, please." He said.

After only a second, the handle was pushed down and a maid in a dress similar to Virgo's - but longer - and brown hair opened the door with a smile and a bow. "Welcome home Akashi-sama." She welcomed Akashi, before seeing Midorima and Lucy as she straightened up. "Oh? You have guests?" She asked him.

Akashi nodded, seeing the weird look the maid was giving Lucy, probably noticing the wounds she'd somehow acquired. "Thank you and yes, I do." He told the maid, giving her that little, forced smile he always gave them.

The maid smiled, although eyeing the blonde woman a little, wondering why the young master would bring someone like her home. First of all she was much older than Akashi-sama, but she was also so… Messy. Either way, it was not for her to decide who the young master brought with him. "I will prepare something for you, then."

"I would appreciate that. Please bring it to the small living room." Akashi replied as the maid hurried off towards the kitchen. He glanced back at Midorima and Lucy - who was now looking very uncomfortable. Was she uncomfortable with an environment such as this? Most were in awe at it, what was with her? He decided to save it for later and gestured for the two to follow him.

Lucy could recognize the conversation Akashi had just had with that maid from way back when she was his age. Although she was much more familiar with her father's employees, it was similar to how she would speak to them, when he was around. Even the big rooms, much higher than necessary, the long hallways, the color of the floor, ceiling and walls, the big windows, the many paintings, sculptures and whatever other kind of artworks decorated the house. All of them, she could recognize from the Heartfilia Konzern.

Akashi opened the two doors to the little living room, which wasn't far from his own room and the kitchen, and held the door for his guests. "Please make yourself comfortable, Lucy-san." He told her, gesturing to the couch in the middle of the room. As she slowly walked towards the couch, she took in the whole room, as if she could recognize it all. He stopped Midorima from getting too far by placing a hand on his shoulder, still standing by the door. "Please wait a moment as Midorima and I fetch the bandages." He said, drawing her attention from the room once again.

She turned around and gave him a gentle smile. "Of course. Thank you, Akashi." She thanked him sincerely. She couldn't remember meeting anyone his age as helpful and kindhearted as she'd gotten the impression that he was. Usually the aristocratic children would be rather egoistical and arrogant.

When the door closed, leaving Lucy alone in the room, she once again went back to examining the room. Much of it was quite similar to what she'd been used to. A way too big room - especially if Akashi called it small - with three floor-to-ceiling windows, long curtains hanging down the sides, portraits of a man, woman and child, probably Akashi and his parents hung on the walls above the shelves. A big, brown, leather couch and two comfortable-looking chairs filled the space in the middle, a little coffee table in front of it and a thick rug underneath it. What had first caught her attention though, was the black grand piano standing towards the windows. That had been her only escape back then…

She shook the thoughts away and placed herself on the couch, feeling how she completely sunk down into the softness of it. She took off Akashi's blazer, remembering it was still hanging around her shoulders, and folded it on her lap. She leaned back and waited for the two to return, staring at the weird, black screen in front of her.

Suddenly sleep attacked her, and she barely stifled a yawn, as she fell back in the couch. Her eyelids grew heavy and she blinked constantly in a vain attempt at staying awake. Finally she gave in and let them close, figuring that she'd wake up when they returned.

Akashi and Midorima went to the adjoining room and walked directly to the cupboard where he knew the bandages were hidden. He'd decided to bring Midorima purely because he knew he couldn't reach it himself. He went to the cupboard and opened the doors, looking up at the first aid kit, then turning to the green haired boy beside him. "Can you reach that, Midorima?" He asked him.

Midorima glanced at Akashi, before he nodded and stood on his toes and only just reached the kit, taking it down from the shelf. He turned to Akashi. "Akashi why did you bring her back here?" He asked him directly, figuring beating around the bush wouldn't make any sense.

Akashi looked up at Midorima with slight surprise at the suddenness of the question. "Going right to the case, I see." He commented as he tried to figure out what to reply. Saying it was because he felt there was something special about her wouldn't satisfy Midorima, he knew that much. "Can't I do a good deed for once?" He asked his friend lightly sarcastic, while he still considered what to say.

Midorima stood still and watched as Akashi turned to leave the room. He followed the red head with a sigh, pushing his glasses up. "There's more to it than that." He said knowingly. That was a too weak reason and not one Akashi would do anything based on.

Akashi smirked as he turned to his friend again. "Of course there is." He said, walking out the door, hearing the other boy's footsteps behind him. He turned the corner and looked at the barely open door to the living room. "She'll have- What's that?" He asked as Midorima stopped up next to him, seeing a bright, golden light flashed inside the living room.

The light faded as quickly as it had come, and the two stared at it for a good second, before Akashi began moving towards the room, opening the door somewhat roughly. Midorima quickly followed and looked around the room, quickly realizing what was missing. "She's gone…" He muttered, staring down at the couch, where there were obvious traced of someone having sat there just a second earlier.

 **Aaaaand that's it! What do you think, guys? Worth following? Ah, and what did you think of this different writing style?**

 **Just like before, I plan on uploading a chapter every week. But I don't know how this year will be, regarding homework and such, but for now that's how it's going to be.**

 **Either way, I'm not doing the long thank you-thing I did in AMCF (Acnologia, my Childhood Friend), it's just gonna be nice and simple this time around: Thank you everyone for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! - although you haven't yet.. Eh, you get what I mean XD**

 **~ Line464d**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **I'm glad you guys seem to like the story! I was kind of worried you wouldn't, but I'm happy I was wrong!**

 **Oh, and I don't usually do this, but one of my friends on here is writing a Fairy Tail fanfic, which will be released the 24** **th** **August (tomorrow) and it would be awesome if your guys checked it out! The writer's 'Acnologia Prime', please give your support!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: Slowpoke and Abra are too busy trying to figure out what to do with their stories, they don't pay any attention to my pleas. **

**Outside Acacia Town, Earthland~**

Lucy felt herself enveloped in a hot warmth, but not warm enough to burn her. It was comfortable and familiar to her. She could see nothing but darkness and hear the faint mumbles of a conversation. When some of her sensation returned, she felt gentle rocking and something around her back and under her legs, as if she was being carried.

Gradually her reason and sense returned to her, reassuring her that it was probably Natsu carrying her and the team all talking together. But with that came the banging headache and the stinging pain of the countless wounds she'd acquired in her last battle.

When Lucy turned to make herself more comfortable in Natsu's arms, she hissed in pain, quickly stopping the conversation the Fire Dragon Slayer had with the other two and drawing their attention. "Luce! Are you okay?!" Natsu half yelled into her ear. And he wasn't the only one, the other two also soon bombarded her with worried questions.

Lucy would have laughed if she could, but relented with a giggle and a smile. "Guys, I'll be fine." She reassured them, waving her hand a little. She tilted her head back and looked at Gray. "Could I get some ice?" She asked him, feeling the constantly increasing pain from the headache erupting from where she'd been hit.

Gray looked at his team mate in confusion, but figured out what she wanted with it quickly, when she scrunched her face in pain, her hand flying to her head. He quickly created a block of ice in his hands. "Here." He said and pressed the ice to the back of her head.

Lucy quickly took over for him, but breathed out quickly when she felt the burning sensation of the cold ice meeting her bare skin, but refused Gray or Natsu's help, when they offered it, giving them a gentle smile in reassurance.

Erza put her hands on her hips firmly and stared at the two guys. "If Lucy says she's fine, I'll believe her." She told them. "Now, we're completing this mission." She said and began walking in the direction they had been headed, the two others quickly following.

Lucy looked up at Natsu. "Natsu, I can walk on my own now." She told him. Natsu flashed her a confused expression, making her giggle a little at his adorably confused face and the way he said things before thinking it through.

Gray moaned in exasperation and face palmed. "She's telling you to put her down, moron." The Ice Make mage clarified for him. You could almost see the tick-mark pounding on his forehead.

Natsu glared at him. "I knew that, Ice Queen!" He growled at his rival. Then taking a 180, he sent Lucy his trademark grin. "But, Luce! I don't want to!" He told her, completely missing how easy it was to misunderstand his words. Lucy sweat dropped at him, then giggled once again when he was hit in the back of his head. He glared at Gray. "What's that for, Popsicle?!" He asked him.

"You're so stupid." Gray sighed, then turned his attention to his blonde teammate in the stupid one's arm. "I have no idea how you put up with that." He stated, then caught up to Erza and engaged in a conversation with her.

Lucy looked after the black-haired mage, wondering just how she actually put up with Natsu. She looked up at the salmon-haired man carrying her and throwing insults at his rival, friend and brother - although he'd never actually admit that. He and the rest of her team were always there for her when she needed them, always there to save her, and she was grateful for that. She was grateful they were there as her pillars of strength until she was strong enough to could handle herself.

She was about to close her eyes and just let Natsu carry her, when her gaze landed on the white fabric in her lap. How she hadn't noticed it earlier, she didn't know, but there it lay.

Natsu noticed how Lucy suddenly tensed in his arms, and when he looked, she was staring at the white jacket lying in her lap. "What's wrong, Luce?" He asked her with furrowed brows. He'd picked it up with Lucy, when he found her lying unconscious on the ground. He couldn't remember seeing her carrying it around before, but apparently she had been. Just to make sure it was actually hers, he'd sniffed it before picking it up. It mainly held the smell of Lucy - specifically her blood, much to his fear back there - but with another much fainter scent he couldn't recognize.

Lucy glanced up at Natsu, seeing his worried expression she smiled gently at him, waving his worries away "It's nothing, just fell into a daze." She tried to reassure him, already feeling horrible for the obvious lie. But she wasn't sure she could actually tell him of what she had discovered. So everything with Akashi and Midorima, those two sweet boys, hadn't been a dream. This white blazer in her lap revealed to her that she had somehow transported between the two worlds. And it seemed like it was a completely other world, the one this blazer belonged to.

What was the cause of it? Why did she get teleported there? And how, most of all? The two words, _Akashi_ and _help_ , it definitely signified she probably had to help Akashi, one way or another. But that was assuming she'd even get back there. Maybe it was just a one-time chance. After all, even though he'd never gotten to it, _Akashi_ had almost _helped_ her. Maybe whatever it was had already been completed, or whatever was going on. Maybe, she wouldn't even experience that phenomenon ever again.

But still… She had the poor boy's blazer. She needed to somehow figure out how to give it back to him. After it had been washed, of course. Tonight, when she got back home, she would ask Crux what he thought of it all, because his key had also been there, as well as the rest of her Spirit's, surely he'd felt that. Maybe he knew what was going on, even though it didn't directly involve Celestial magic… But if he didn't know anything, maybe Loke did.

Lucy folded her hands on top of the blazer, for now accepting that she'd been teleported to another world when she was unconscious, without any answers to her almost endless line of questions, which she may or may not get answered later on.

She looked around, still seeing that they were enveloped in trees, trees and even more trees. "Say… Where are we going, exactly?" She asked her fellow teammates.

A ball of blue fur landed between her arms and made itself comfortable before answering. "We're going back to Acacia, of course! Are you stupid, Lushy?" He asked her, mumbling something about how he was happy he wasn't the one to carry her, since she was so heavy.

Lucy glared at the cat in between her arms. "Shut up you stupid cat." She hissed gently at it, narrowing her eyes playfully. Even though he said things like that, she could never hate him. Besides, the only place all that weight could sit was in her breasts, so it really wasn't that bad.

Happy smiled at her and began purring when she scratched the back of his ears, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch. He didn't know how she knew it, but somehow that blonde knew he had a soft spot there.

Lucy looked up at the one carrying her. "How did the mission go, by the way?" She asked, trying to strike up a conversation with her salmon haired friend.

Natsu looked down at her with his trademark grin. "We beat 'em all up! They won't be standing anytime soon." He promised me. That was exactly what she needed to hear. How the guys who had beat her into unconsciousness were now beaten into unconsciousness too. That would be what he would want for them, so Lucy must have felt that way too. That, he was sure of.

Gray looked back at the dumb retard with a look deserving of his low intelligence. "You're such a dumbass, y'know that?" He asked him. He knew that wasn't what Lucy actually wanted to hear. She probably didn't even think once about revenge once since waking up. If anything, she was worried if anyone got hurt. Or if anything was destroyed, so she couldn't pay her rent next month. Gray smirked at Natsu. "And you know who beat most bandits outta the two of us, Flame Head." He said, pulling his shirt off in the process. He didn't get further though, as he was tackled by a certain blue haired mage.

Erza looked back at Lucy over her shoulder. "It went well, Lucy. Not only did we, as Natsu mentioned, 'beat up' all 20 of them, but the Rune Knights brought them along as well." She told the blonde.

Lucy looked at the red head with wide eyes. "20?! Are you telling me the three of you and Happy took care of 20 mages?!" She asked in surprise. She knew her team was one of the strongest out there, but that was just ridiculous. Even if Erza was an S-Class. And on top of that, it meant the major had been _way_ off! Sure, it'd been classified as S-class, but 3-6 being 20 suddenly? That was too much of a jump.

Erza smiled gently at her and nodded. "Yes, with the help of Juvia too, of course." She said and gestured to Gray, who was dragging himself forward as well as he could with Juvia having thrown her arms around one of his legs desperately. Meanwhile, Happy was agreeing with his usual 'Aye sir'. She turned around and looked forward again, hiding her face from her team mates. "But it seems the information the major gave us wasn't quite right, I will need to have a chat with him about that." She said and gritted her teeth. Indeed it was as Lucy had said back at the guild, the reward was ridiculously high for the level the request had been put to be, but in the end, it fitted with reality. But what was worst about it all, was that what stood on the job paper was a direct lie. It had resulted in one of her team mates going unconscious and hurt as bad as Lucy was. There was no way Erza, as a team leader, could accept that. If it hadn't been for Juvia, it was a probability they hadn't even completed this mission at all. If only she, herself hadn't run away from Lucy with the guys back then, then maybe Lucy wouldn't have been beaten so roughly. She should have known six people were too few to raid a whole town like that, both with and without magic. If only she'd been stronger, then this job wouldn't have been so hard…

All five of them walking behind the redhead knew what was going through her mind. It was seen simply by the way she tensed up and the last glimpse of her face they got just before she turned it forward again. She was blaming herself for how things turned out. It had been a hell in there, and if Juvia hadn't showed up, eager to help her 'Gray-sama', then it would have been impossible for them to actually clear this mission, she'd really been the helping hand they needed.

Finally, the little town was straight ahead, still looking as crushed and destroyed as it had when they had left earlier on. The group made it through the town completely silent as they pretended not to notice all the stares they got from the people living in the town.

Lucy, for one, felt the heat rise to her cheeks quicker than she had though possible. Her situation was so easy to misunderstand it wasn't even funny. And the best thing about it all was that Natsu had absolutely no idea just what he was doing. She sighed at the thought of what her father would think if he saw her right at that moment.

She pushed the thoughts out of her head just as they reached the major's house, finally escaping the looks of the whole town. Those six weren't the first to attempt at this request, the townspeople knew, and they were afraid of what would happen, if not even Fairy Tail could beat them up. But going by the faces they'd worn, it almost seemed like they weren't successful with it either… And the way that one guy had carried that roughed up blonde girl all the way through town. They were worried what was going to happen to their little town.

When the major heard the firm knocking from the door, he sprung up from his chair and hurried to it, quickly ushering the Fairy Tail mages inside. He quickly took note of their state, that one of them wasn't even walking herself. And that somehow there was one more person than before. He looked expectantly up at the redhead, who seemed to be the leader of the team. "How did it go?"

Erza looked at the major, doing her best not to explode in his face. "We succeeded, of course." She said restrainedly.

The major's face broke into a wide, almost teary smile at them. Finally his town was saved from those bandits! Finally they could return to living in peace! He took one of the redhead's hands in both of his and squeezed them tightly in gratitude. Well, as much as her armor allowed anyway. "Thank you, thank you so much!" He thanked her, closing his eyes as he actually fought his tears. After who knows how many guilds trying to beat the bandits, finally someone got rid of them. "I'll go fetch the reward immediately!" He said and hurried off into the other room. Fortunately, he'd left it on the desk, easily accessible. He quickly returned, reward in hand, and handed it over. "I can't thank you enough fo- Wha?" He cut his own sentence off, when his feet suddenly lost connection with the floor.

Erza, finally having had enough of the man's continuous thanking, lifted him into the air with one hand gripping the collar of his shirt. "Tell me." She simply told him sternly, an underlying promise of certain death if he didn't answer correct. It seemed, with one of her most precious friends hurt to the point she couldn't - more like wasn't allowed to - walk had made something snap inside her.

The major looked at her with surprise and fear shining in his eyes. He had absolutely no idea what had made the Knight do these actions, but he knew he was scared. They were the only ones who'd been able to take these bandits down after all. "T-tell yo-you w-w-what?!" He asked her as quickly as he could through his stammering.

Erza narrowed her eyes at the major. "The information on the job request. It was wrong. Tell me why." She ordered him firmly, her inner demon showing to even those behind her.

The major looked at her with wide, confused eyes. Wh- He didn't know that! He wasn't preset when they were attacked, he hadn't known. "I-I didn't k-k-know!" He said.

The Requip mage didn't give him any chance to explain, when she rammed her own forehead into his, instantly knocking him out. She dropped him unceremoniously to the ground and turned to her team. "Let's go catch our train. It'll go in ten minutes." She told us.

It took a second for all of them to realize just what the redhead was saying, but then it also really sunk in. "WHAT?!" They all yelled simultaneously before kicking the door off its hinges and running with all their might towards the train station. Somehow Natsu could keep up with the other while carrying Lucy, and likewise Erza could keep up with her humongous wagon she'd gotten from who knows where.

Somehow, they reached the train station right at the last second. "WAIT!" Gray yelled just as they were about to close the gates and set off. They reached the guy and Erza quickly paid for new tickets, before the weird-looking gang made it into the train and found a place to sit.

Almost right as they had placed themselves, the train jerked into motion, making Natsu jerk forward in almost the same way, green quickly taking over as the color of his face as his cheeks blew up like a hamster's. "I feel so baaad…!" He told them, before his hands flew to his mouth in an attempt at keeping his breakfast inside.

Without a word, Erza reached out and knocked him out, effectively putting an end to his suffering. She looked at Lucy, who was sitting next to Natsu, who was slowly slipping down on the floor. The blonde quickly reached out and saved him with the help of Happy and having him lying down on the seat with his legs over the edge, toward the hallway going in the middle.

"Lucy." The redhead said, drawing the girl's attention. Lucy looked up at her with a sweet, confused smile and a look which so obviously didn't blame Erza, the team leader, for a single thing at all. Actually, she was probably beating herself down for not being able to take down the ones she'd been targeted by herself. So, even if Erza apologized now, Lucy was almost sure to just brush it off. Even though Erza knew this, she felt like she should apologize either way, though. "I'm sorry…" She said slowly.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the redhead apologizing to her. Erza wasn't exactly one to apologize, so she couldn't help wondering what had brought this on. "What are you apologizing for, Erza?" She asked her confusedly. She was pretty sure it was something serious, whatever it was.

Erza sighed. "For what happened back there." She finally said. "I should have at least stayed back and helped you, it wasn't right to leave you alone-" This was where she was cut off by the Celestial mage herself.

"No, I don't want you to apologize for me being too weak to beat up those three." She told the Requip mage. So this was what she was worried about? It was nowhere near her fault, no matter how you twisted and turned it. "As far as I could understand, you were definitely needed in there, so don't apologize." She said, before adding a gentle smile at the end. When Erza made a face as if to make a protest, Lucy's gaze softened. "Please, Erza." She begged the Knight.

The surprise Erza got from her sudden change stunned her into silence. She didn't know it meant so much to Lucy, that she and the other two shouldn't take her 'weakness' - although Erza didn't agree - into consideration and guard over her like hawks. She understood. Lucy wanted to grow by herself, without them flailing around her and making sure she was always safe. The blonde woman was independent, Erza didn't doubt that at all, but she just wished that Lucy would rely a little more on her, at least for a start. But if that was her choice, then who was Erza to go against her friend's wishes?

At last, the redhead sighed and nodded. "Okay, I understand, Lucy. I will not apologize if that is what you wish." She relented, although she still felt a pang of guilt with the whole thing.

Lucy smiled brightly at the leader of her team. "Thank you so much, Erza!" She said, her whole face radiating happiness. Meanwhile she was wondering how much of it Erza understood. She knew the S-Class mage wasn't stupid, there was a chance that she figured everything out…

At the same time, at the seats on the other side of the corridor going down the middle of the train, Gray tried to figure out just how he was supposed to pry the Rain woman away from his arm and get his shirt back on. That woman still held on to it, and wouldn't release it no matter what Gray tried, saying it was her souvenir from the first time they had a 'romantic' train-ride together. He really didn't get where she got it from, nothing about that ride was romantic or worth mentioning at all. It was just like any other ride with the train. Natsu knocked out by Erza with his head on Lucy's lap, while the two ladies talked about something and Happy sat happily and daydreamed about all the different kinds of fish Mira would serve him when they returned. If it hadn't been for Juvia, he'd be sitting right there, with all of them.

Now, it wasn't to be misunderstood. He didn't _hate_ Juvia, but he didn't really _like_ her either. It was just… Well, what it was. She was nice enough, he guessed, but she was also just incredibly annoying with how she always made a fuss over everything he did and didn't do and always waited and watched him behind the corner. Couldn't a man just strip in peace?!

Juvia closed her eyes and once again rubbed her cheek into her Gray's bare arm, having nothing else in her head, but the joy of her skin meeting his. This was how it would all start, she was sure of it. This romantic train-ride, where they sat so close would be where it all would begin! When they got back to the guild, Gray would confess his love to her in front of everyone, and she'd jump into his arms, screaming yes! Then, a half a year later, where the two would have had the most amazing time, Gray would propose to her. Their wedding would be so grand and romantic, the fact that her husband would keep stripping wouldn't even matter. Then, not long after, Juvia would find out she was pregnant, and Gray would cry tears of joy. This would be the story she would tell her blue haired and black eyed children. They would be the happiest family in all of Fiore!

Juvia sighed, tightening her grip around her Gray-sama's arm, sighing melodramatically in joy. "Oh, Gray." She muttered dreamily. Not even her Love-Rival or anything else could stop her fate now.

Gray, on the other hand, paled at the sigh the blunette released. He knew what that meant. Her imagination went haywire. Luckily, the train suddenly stopped in front of Magnolia again, making him jump to his feet and quickly escaping Juvia's hold as he fled out the train, yelling he'd take out the baggage before too many people showed up.

The other four also made their way out, Lucy quickly waking Natsu up, as Erza helped Gray getting her baggage out, as the wagon seemed to be too heavy for him. When he was too much of a bother, she swatted him away as if he was a fly, and pulled it out herself, before rolling the poor Ice mage over with her wagon, as she made her way to the guild.

Natsu kicked the doors in, somewhere along the way, having swept Lucy up into his arms again. "WE'RE BACK!" He yelled loudly, drawing every single guild-member's attention, which resulted in some snide remarks, laughs and catcalls.

Lucy pouted and crossed her arms. "Just put me down, Natsu." She told him, getting embarrassed with all the attention she was getting. She really didn't like it.

Natsu looked down at the blonde in his arms, who had crossed arms and was looking up at him with a pouty face. "But whyyy, Lucy?" He asked her, the whole guild listening in to their conversation, eager to find out how it would turn out.

But it probably wasn't the ending they had expected, when Gray appeared from behind the doors, letting a heavy hand land on top of the salmon-haired Dragon Slayer's head. "Just release her, Flame-tard." He grumbled.

Without a second thought, Natsu dropped Lucy on the ground and whipped around to punch Gray in the face. "Come at me, Ice Princess!" He said, looking at Gray who had stumbled back with the impact.

Gray glared at the idiot in front of him, rubbing his new sore spot. He'd never admit it, but that guy could definitely throw a punch. "Tch, that fucking tickled, you idiot. But if you want more wounds, I'll be happy to deliver!" He said as he also swung a fist at the other guy, the two of them engaging in yet another brawl at the guild. In other words, everything returned to normal, including the guild-member's attention.

Meanwhile, both of them had forgotten Lucy, whose butt had collided heavily with the floor. She groaned in pain when she straightened up, then directed her gaze to a little above her, when she heard the flap of a pair of too familiar wings. "Don't you even dare thinking about it, _cat_." She hissed at the blue cat flying above her with a sly face. For just a second, it'd be all right for her to let her inner demon loose. Right?

"Oh Mavis… Lucy!" A certain white-haired barmaid exclaimed behind the bar, a hand hovering over her mouth. She quickly made her way away from the counter and towards the Celestial mage sitting at the floor and glaring at the cat. "What happened to you?!" She asked her, as she approached the quite injured blonde.

Lucy looked up at Mira, the demonic face she'd sent Happy completely gone. She looked down at herself, then realizing what Mira was talking about. "Oh, do you mean these wounds? Well, the battle was a little fiercer than we had first expected." She said, laughing a little and sweat dropping at what was now a memory. Well, that was playing it down a lot, but she had a feeling Mira would fuss if she knew she'd passed out and everything. Actually, she knew that would happen.

Mira looked down at the blonde girl with a worried look. Obviously Lucy was hurting much more than she let on. Those burns she had all over her normally perfect skin weren't Natsu's, she'd gotten them in battle. But, it also meant the information on the job-paper was probably wrong. Normal, magicless bandits wouldn't be able to do that kind of thing, not with the others and Lucy's Spirits also around.

Mira sighed and held a hand out towards Lucy. "Come on, we'll take care of bandaging you up in the infirmary." She said. Lucy accepted with a grateful smile, and the two made their way to the infirmary to get Lucy all bandaged up, while the guild was as noisy as usual.

 **Lucy's place~**

Lucy turned around and landed on her back, on her bed, breathing out heavily. That day had been tiring, so many things had happened. She looked down at the blazer in her now bandaged arms again. Yeah, she still had _that_ to think about. And talk with her Spirits about. She should get it washed, it really needed to. Luckily, she got a bath back at the guild, before Mira began bandaging her up, so she wasn't black and brown with dirt. Mira was also so gracious to lend her some new clothes, since the old ones had been all torn. She needed those washed too, so she could return it to the sweet barmaid.

Suddenly, a poof sounded next to her and out of the smoke appeared her pink-haired maid. "Hime-sama, I heard your pleas, I wish to clean this blazer for you so you can get some rest." She said and bowed lightly. "Punishment, Hime-sama?" She then requested.

Lucy was a little shocked with the sudden appearance of her Spirit, but giggled at her usual comment at the end. She nodded and smiled brightly at the maid. "I would really appreciate it, thank you, Virgo." She said.

Virgo nodded and picked up the blazer from her owner's arms, folding it over her own arm. "Then I will wash this. I will be back soon, Hime-sama." She promised and disappeared with another poof.

Lucy knew Virgo would be back before an hour had passed. How her Spirit managed to do it so quickly, she wouldn't know. She sat up in her bed and quickly found Grandpa Crux' key. I pulled it out of the keyring and slashed it downwards. "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross. Crux." She said calmly.

In another poof of smoke and the familiar sound of bells, the metal-like cross levitating above the ground appeared, his eyes closed and his eyes crossed. "Hm. You summoned me, Miss Lucy." He commented.

Lucy nodded and smiled at him. "Yes, grandpa Crux, I did." She confirmed. "I'm sure you and the rest of the Spirits felt it too, but earlier, when I was beat into unconsciousness I seem to have… I don't know, kind of teleported to another world of some kind." She tried explaining. It just seemed so ridiculous. Why would she be teleported to another world? Why her? "I was wondering if you knew something about it, grandpa Crux?" She asked.

Crux grunted and began snoring loudly while he searched for the answers his summoner had asked him to search for. He had indeed felt a change in atmosphere surrounding his keys, a lack of Eternano so to speak.

Lucy leaned back, supporting her hands behind her back on the bed as she waited for the cross Spirit to find whatever answers he could find. This whole thing was so weird anyway. Either way, somehow, with the help of her Spirits or not, she would find out what happened. Sooner or later anyway.

"HAAAAARRHHHH!" Crux roared, frightening Lucy out of her thoughts, after having found the answers he'd been searching for. It hadn't been easy for him, it seemed there weren't much information regarding it in the Spirit World.

Lucy panted after the scare her Spirit had given her. "Jeez, grandpa, you scared me." She said as she caught her breath again. You'd think she'd be used to it by now, but it was just one of those things you never really got completely used to. "So, what did you find?" She asked curiously, sitting straight in the bed, looking attentively at the levitating Spirit in front of her.

"Hrm." He said affirmatively, doing his best to nod, but with his stiff back it resulted in his whole body tilting. "As it is, it seems you did indeed teleport to another world when you were unconscious. That world is called Earth. It is a parallel world to ours, lying in the solar system in a galaxy called 'the Milky Way'." He told Lucy. "Not much is known about that place, only that it, as said, is a parallel to your world, Earthland, and shares the same sky. As I believe you experienced already, Earth seems to only have very limited Eternano in the air, and the inhabitants of Earth does not believe magic is real. They do not have Lacrima or anything of the like, instead they rely on their technology and the Earth's resources." He told her.

Lucy nodded, trying her best to follow what her Spirit was saying. She couldn't imagine what it would be like without Lacrima for communication and for the most basic needs in the everyday. In Earthland, they used Lacrima for _everything,_ cooking, lighting, warming one's house up, communication, the list was endless. Those people living on Earth, they must be really clever to could do all that without any sort or kind of magic.

Crux continued on explaining Earth. "The Earth's inhabitants seems to be humans just like us. That is all I know, as mentioned, not much is known about Earth. Neither about your situation. All I could find was that it is somehow linked with Celestial mages, but I don't know how. There is only one thing I can confirm, it seems that whatever you touch or wear at the time you teleport, will come with you." He told Lucy and almost immediately after began snoring loudly, having actually fallen asleep.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Thank you, you can go home now, grandpa." It was simply a reflex she had, she was already too deeply caught in her thoughts to notice her Spirit leaving to the Spirit World. So somehow it probably had to do with her Celestial magic, since her Spirit could find something on it, but how still wasn't known. Grandpa Crux hadn't mentioned anything about how she was teleported there. For now, all she knew was she did when she was unconsciousness. But what if that wasn't the only way? Now she thought a bit about it, it would be reasonable there was other things that would send her over there too. She was sure she'd find that out as it went on. _If_ it went on that is. There was still the possibility that it was only a one-time thing.

She was forced out of her considerations, when Virgo - once again - appeared suddenly. "I've returned, Hime-sama." She announced, her blue gaze locking with her summoner's brown one. "This blazer has been all cleaned. Punishment?" She asked Lucy.

The blonde girl smiled up at her Spirit, taking the blazer when it was held out to her. "Thank you so much, Virgo. I really appreciate your help." She thanked her Spirit. That maid always appeared when she needed her the most, she was amazing. No doubt about it.

Virgo nodded to Lucy and bowed. "It was my pleasure, Hime-sama." She said and straightened up. Her hand flew to her head in a salute. "I will await my punishment, Hime-sama." She said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Lucy giggled and fell back on her bed again, quickly ending it off with a sigh. Honestly, she was too tired to either undress or brush her teeth, she just wanted to sleep. So, she just crawled under her covers and quickly fell asleep, clothes still on and holding the neatly folded blazer in her hand.

And then she suddenly disappeared with a flash of golden light, leaving behind her bed and covers.

 **Okay, so a bit shorter chapter this time. Next chapter, Lucy'll be at Earth again! Hope you liked it!**

 **Actually I thought of adding the Earth-part to this chapter as well, but then I didn't know how long the chapter would be ._." So yeah, it'll have to wait for next time!  
I really aimed to make this chapter funny, but I kinda get the feeling I failed XD Real bad. Well, hope it's all right anyhow! **

**Anyway, thank you for reading, favorites, following and reviewing! I really appreciate it! - fits better with this chapter, eh?**

 **~ Line464d**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Sooo~ Lucy's now back at Earth! Let's see what's going to happen! This one's going to be a long chapter..!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: So, both the pink, derpy-faced, slow writer and the one who disappears in a fash of light as soon as you meet him don't listen to a thing I say~ Not that that's new**

 **At Teiko High~**

Currently the 1st string was training shooting the ball, mixed with different maneuvers. They'd started out with having their best defender, Murasakibara Atsushi, stand as an 'enemy' defender they had to get around, but that had proved impossible, Murasakibara was simply a too good defender, they couldn't land a single ball. Instead, they'd put in one of the third years, so it'd be difficult, but not impossible.

Akashi narrowed his eyes at the black-haired third year in front of him, before dribbling forward quickly, pounding the ball into the ground as he quickly neared the stand in for the 'enemy'. He did a quick pair of crossover dribbles, before speeding to the right, past the defender. Standing almost right next to the third year, he set off the ground, hovering in the air, aiming to make a three-pointer.

But right as he was about to shoot, the ball was pushed out of his hands, flying back towards the room where the basketball tools lay at the other end of the court. Akashi's eyes widened at his own carelessness. He should have known the third year could reach out and take the ball. Actually, he _did_ know.

Without sending the third year another glance, he jogged at a fast pace towards the back, past all the players waiting to shoot. On the way, Midorima caught his gaze. "You're out of it today, Akashi." He commented, pushing his glasses up, just as the red-haired player passed him. "It's about yesterday, isn't it?" He asked him in a much lower voice.

Akashi continued on unaffected by the green-haired boy's words. Inside though, he flinched at his words. Mainly because he hit spot on. His mind was indeed filled with thoughts about the happenings of the day before. That woman, Lucy Heartfilia, she was puzzling. She seemed nice all the time, genuinely nice, but then she just disappeared, taking his blazer with her. Not that it mattered, he had several others as backup. Usually, he didn't make any mistakes with assessing people, so why would she be the first? She, who seemed so expressive and open to anyone who looked at her. Then there were the questions that could be raised with her sudden disappearance. How did she, with so many injuries, disappear so suddenly and soundlessly? Why would she take his blazer with her? And most of all, what was that golden light?

He sighed and shook his head lightly. It didn't matter, and he probably wouldn't find out. He highly doubted he'd ever see that girl again. He slowed down his jogging to a walk, picking up the ball, which had bumped into the big metal box, where the basketballs usually lay when not used, lying conveniently in wait for him to pick it up.

When he straightened up, a misplaced bob of a golden yellow color peeked out behind one of the high wall-like instrument, they sometimes used for three-point training. With his curiosity flaring, he silently approached whatever it was. He had an idea about what it was, though.

As he had expected, the bob of golden yellow, was actually the golden, blonde hair of a girl. A… Familiar girl, to be more exact. One sentence flew quickly through his head. Speaking of the devil.

Akashi stopped up right next to the girl he immediately recognized as Lucy and looked at her with a raised eyebrow in curiosity. She seemed to be… Sleeping? Why here? How, actually. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, black t-shirt, which sat tight to her torso. Underneath the shirt, which had been pulled a bit up around her stomach, showed she'd been completely bandaged up. His eyes followed her awkwardly outstretched arm and then widened, when he saw she was holding his blazer in her hands.

He crouched down and gently shook her shoulder, not sure if she also had an injury there. "Lucy, wake up." He told her, shaking her a little once again. She was an enigma to him. Falling asleep in the tool room of his school.

Lucy was startled awake by the hand shaking her shoulder. She jolted away from the hand and with a low squeal, she moved away to press her back against the nearest wall. Wherever she was, it for one thing sure wasn't her room. It was dark and she was sitting on the ground. Big things she couldn't quite distinguish in the dark were towering above her. Where was she?

Akashi looked curiously at her, but couldn't help the smirk that crawled up on his face. She seemed to be disoriented as you sometimes are right when you wake up. The strong woman she'd been the day before seemed like a whole other person than the frightened girl, who was sitting in front of him, looking left and right nervously with her knees pulled up to her body and her eyes wide. He was just about to calm her down, when her eyes settled on him.

Lucy looked at the person in front of her. She'd gotten used to dark enough to be able to see who had awakened her. The person was standing in a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt, as well as a set of sneakers unlike any she'd seen in Magnolia. All in all, a sporty look. They had short but kind of spiky, red hair. Finally, her sight got clear enough to could see the set of slit eyes staring back at her.

She furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head a little. It couldn't be. "Akashi…?" She asked hesitantly. It'd be embarrassing if she was wrong, after all. It could simply just be her mistaking Natsu for Akashi while still half asleep. It _could_ still be her own house, it wouldn't be something new if Natsu had decided to crawl into her bed. She could see the person in front of her nodding.

She was on Earth now, she realized. She had teleported here again? This time she'd been sleeping… So did that mean she would travel here every time she fell asleep or unconscious? She was completely rejuvenated, as if all that had happened back at Earthland never did. She quickly reached down and touched Crux' key. She couldn't right now, but she had to have a telepathic conversation with Crux as quickly as possible.

Akashi offered a hand to Lucy, who was still sitting on the ground. "Need help getting up?" He asked her. She looked at him as if she didn't understand his question for a while, before taking his hand and getting up with a smile and a nod. "What were you even doing, sleeping in here?" He asked her, releasing her hand.

Akashi's hand had been moist with sweat, she guessed. Had he been working out? It would explain the clothes he was wearing. She smiled brightly at him. "Well…" She trailed off, zooming through her head for something to say. He obviously wouldn't believe the truth… "I was waiting here for you…?" She said, accidentally phrasing it as a question.

Akashi raised his eyebrow at her again, amused with her struggling. "I see. Why?" He asked her a smirk playing even in his voice. As he'd observed the first time they met, she was excessively expressive. She couldn't lie at all. He chose just to let it go for now, it could only be because she was embarrassed to be found sleeping in a tool room.

Lucy was happy it was dark in the room, otherwise her face could be mistaken for a tomato. "I've cleaned your blazer for you, thanks for letting me lend it by the way. I hope it wasn't a problem without it." She said honestly.

Akashi shook his head. "It's all right, I have several others as well." He reassured her, almost beginning to fidget to get back to training. He suddenly got a boost of energy for whatever reason, he needed to burn it off. He felt a silence approaching between them and quickly seized the opportunity to get back to training without being rude to the girl. "I'm actually in the middle of training with my team, so if you don't mind, I'll return to that." He said, throwing the ball from one hand to another.

Lucy's gaze fell on the ball. She hadn't seen it before… Actually, she hadn't ever seen a ball like it. Orange with black, curving lines. "Yeah, that's all right, I'll hold onto your blazer until you're finished." She said with a smile, deciding she could ask him about it afterwards.

Akashi nodded. "Thank you." He said and began walking towards the exit of the tool room. Lucy trailed after him and he could feel her curious gaze at his back. He turned his head and looked at Lucy over his shoulder. "I was thinking we could talk after my training is done, is that all right with you?" He asked her.

Lucy nodded with a bright smile. "Of course, I would like that." She agreed. She figured he had some questions he wanted to ask her. It wouldn't be surprising really, the situation taken into consideration. She also wanted to talk to him, she was curious about this world, to say the least. Who wouldn't be?

Akashi couldn't resist returning the contagious smile the blonde girl was giving him. "I hope you don't mind waiting, there's still a half an hour left." He said. He could almost _hear_ his father yelling at him that it wasn't appropriate to let a lady wait for you. He did admit, he felt like he was acting quite rudely towards Lucy, but he knew that most people didn't find it rude at all. It was just one of those things he was raised with as a rich kid, it didn't apply for everyone else.

Lucy nodded. "Not at all." She reassured him. With all the waiting she's done for Natsu and Gray sometimes, waiting this little amount of time was nothing.

The two emerged from the tool room and onto the court in the big basketball hall. Akashi almost immediately felt the whole team's eyes and attention directed at the two of them. He turned to look up at Lucy and gestured towards the balconies hovering above the basketball goals, where Momoi Satsuki, the manager of their team, stood and watched the training. Or would have, if it hadn't stopped. "You can stand up there with the girl and watch, if you wish." He suggested.

Lucy looked up to where he was gesturing, trying not to get embarrassed with all the stares she was getting. She could see someone standing up there, just as Akashi had said. She nodded and smiled at him. "I will do that, thank you." She said and fought with all she had not to freak out. She had absolutely no idea what to do in this kind of situation and felt so out of place, embarrassed. Akashi on the other hand didn't seem like the whole thing bothered him at all and she silently envied him for it. She pulled herself away from her thoughts, so she wouldn't look like an even bigger idiot in front of all these people. Sending a last smile to the redhead, she turned away and began walking in the direction of the stairs leading up to the balcony, while wondering just what kind of training Akashi was doing with his team.

Akashi sent the blonde girl a last glance before returning to the middle of the court, where his teammates were staring at either him or Lucy. He set into a slow run and dribbled all the way towards his team.

He reached them all in no time and made his way into the back of the line which was still there. 3... 2... 1... "Oi, why didn't you ever tell us you had a hot big sister?" One of the third years asked him. Exactly the comment he'd expected from him.

One of the other members nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you tell is you had a big sister in the first place?" He asked Akashi.

Akashi sighed. "She's not my sister, just someone I know." He said, although he knew that'd just open up for a lot of other questions.

Aomine, one of the few his age, gave him a confused look. "Huh? Then what the heck were you doing with her in the tool room?" He asked him, making a few of them chuckle as their overactive imagination kicked in.

Before Akashi could answer, their coach had had enough of their blabbering. "Get back to training! This isn't a girl's camp!" He reminded them, which immediately made them all focus on what they were doing.

Lucy walked up the stairs and found herself face-to-face with the person who'd been standing on the balcony. She was a pretty, little girl with long, pink hair, not 'salmon' like Natsu's, hers was actually pink. A kind of peachy pink. Her eyes were a beautiful dark pink, bordering red, color. She was wearing a mint green sweatshirt over what seemed to be a white t-shirt with a blue bow around the neck and a black mini-skirt.

The girl was smiling widely with an excited expression. "Hello! I'm Momoi Satsuki, but you can just call me Momoi. Are you Akashi-kun's big sister?" She asked Lucy, holding her hand out for a shake.

Lucy took the girl's hand and shook it gently. "Hello, Momoi." She greeted the girl with her favorite, radiant smile. She wondered how the girl thought she and Akashi were related. "I'm not Akashi's sister, I'm an... Acquaintance of his." She corrected her. She wasn't sure if calling herself his friend was appropriate - or if he'd like it, for that matter - with the little time they'd had together. "My name's Lucy Heartfilia, just call me Lucy, though." She introduced herself.

Momoi looked up at the beautiful, blonde woman standing in front of her, almost with stars in her eyes. She was so kind, asking her to call her by the first name right from the beginning. "You're so pretty, Lucy~!" She said without thinking. When she immediately realized what she'd said, she buried her face in her hands in embarrassment. "Oh God.. What did I just say?!" She blurted out, while inwardly scolding herself.

Lucy giggled at the pinkette's straightforwardness. "Thank you, Momoi. You're also cute yourself." She said. And she honestly wasn't lying. She could already see how beautiful she'd get these next few years. She might even rival Mira.

Momoi looked up at her, this time actually with stars in her eyes. "Do you really mean that?" She asked the girl, who already seemed like the person she wanted to be when she grew up.

Lucy nodded. "Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" She asked. She was a bad liar anyway, so even if she wanted to, she couldn't lie to the girl. She wouldn't know that. Lucy sweat dropped when she noticed the reaction she got from Momoi. The girl was looking up at her with a starry expression of adoration. Lucy giggled again. "Say, Momoi, what is that game Akashi and his team are playing?" Lucy asked, glancing down, where they all stood nicely in line, each with a ball in their hands or pushing it into the ground, only for it to bounce back. One after another, they charged forward at one person standing guard in front of a kind of net, which it seemed they'd then try to either slam or throw the ball in. She went further down the balcony, standing right above the net, almost.

Momoi looked confusedly at the blonde woman, who was looking down at the Teiko team training their basketball and followed her to stand next to her. "Don't you know, Lucy?" She asked rhetorically. She thought everyone knew of basketball, especially someone who knows someone like Akashi. "They're training their basketball." She told her and looked down at the team again, watching as Aomine easily landed a score.

Lucy's confused gaze moved from the people down there, who she fist now realize all were boys, to Momoi. The way she said it, it sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world to her, like it was common knowledge. Like the existence of magic and guilds were in Fiore. She desperately reached down for Crux' key and connected with it. _I'm sorry to bother you, grandpa Crux, but I really need your help._ She begged him.

Momoi turned her attention back to Lucy again. "I thought everyone knew of basketball, especially in Tokyo." She tilted her head a little at the older girl. "You're not from around here, are you?" She asked her.

Lucy began sweating bullets, hoping Momoi wouldn't see it. What the heck was she supposed to do? _Crux, tell me about a different place on Earth, please. It's quite important!_ She half yelled at him. She really felt pressured.

But… Apparently, Crux wasn't the one who answered. _Ah, I'm sorry Princess, but Crux seems to be busy today, can I be of assistance instead?_ Loke, the infinite flirt, asked her.

Lucy reminded herself not to nod, since it would seem weird to Momoi and Loke wouldn't be able to see it anyway. _Yes, I really need to know a different place on Earth than Tokyo! Please, Loke, as fast as possible!_ She hurried on her Spirit.

 _Of course Princess._ Loke said. She felt it took way too long for him. _You're currently in Japan, there's this place called America, which-_

Lucy cut her Spirit off quickly. _I'm sorry Loke, I can't hear it all right now. I'll contact you when I get the opportunity. Thank you!_ She said and quickly cut the connection with him. She smiled at Momoi and nodded. "Yeah, I moved here from America." She said a little too quickly and cringed at her own mistake.

Momoi looked at her with surprise written all over her face. "America, really? Then it must have been far out in the country, if you don't know about basketball." She said and giggled.

Lucy nodded, wondering what the heck she should do now. "Yeah, it was pretty secluded. There weren't a city in mile's radius." That wasn't actually a lie, there weren't a city anywhere near the Heartfilia Konzern, there was at least a mile to the closest one.

Momoi turned to her fully. "Your Japanese is really great, where did you learn it from? As far as I know, there aren't any schools teaching Japanese over there, except maybe some special ones in the big cities." She said thoughtfully.

Lucy flinched. Okay, what now? They didn't use the same language all over this world. Of course they didn't. "Uhm.. Yeah, see my mom is half Japanese, so she thought it would be a good idea if I learned it as well." She said hesitantly. She wasn't sure if what she said really made sense to the pinkette, but she really hoped so. She just assumed 'Japanese' was the language they spoke here, in Japan.

Momoi nodded. That made sense, otherwise it'd be weird if an American had such good Japanese. She spoke it fluently! She must have spoken Japanese at home around her mom. "So are you here to experience your mother's birthplace yourself?" She asked the bigger girl.

Lucy nodded, feeling awful for lying to the girl. "Yeah. Mama told me so many stories about her life in Japan, so of course I had to come and see if all the stories are true." She lied with a fake smile. She had a feeling that was the most obvious fake smile she'd made in a long time. It would have been so much easier if she hadn't had her aristocrat personality broken down by Fairy Tail already. But then, she loved them for doing that. It was horrible.

Momoi smiled and nodded vigorously. "I see. So what do you think about Japan?" She asked the blonde girl.

Lucy smiled nervously, fighting not to seem too unnatural. She just couldn't lie. She'd never been good at it. Ever. "Well, I've only been here a few days, so I haven't really had much chance to discover this place yet, but once I get all settled, I'm going to go exploring this place some more." She told her. She had absolutely no idea what she was talking about at this point. She turned her attention back down to the many boys playing 'basketball', whatever that was. "Anyway, would you mind explaining basketball to me? It seems like it's a fun game." She said. Most of all, she just wanted to escape the previous topic, but she truly was interested in this basketball. She had a feeling she should know as much as she could about it.

Momoi blushed as she realized she had completely turned the topic away from what it originally was. "Yes, of course." She said and nodded. "I guess we can start with the basics. Basketball is a game where you play on a court just like the one the guys are playing at down there. Do you see the black lines?" She asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I see them." She said. The 'court', as Momoi called it, seemed to have wooden flooring, but with black colored linings on it. The first thing she noticed was that there was a big square, in a rectangular form, at the middle of the long sides, going straight over to the parallel line on the other side, went a line with a circle in the middle. On both ends, there were a semi-circle, almost going from one corner to the other on the shorter ends. In the middle of that, there were circles with one line lying horizontally from one side to the other, parallel to the short end's lines and the one parting the court in two. The part of that smaller circle, which pointed towards the net was dotted instead. Going in a 90 degree angle from the ends of the little circles near the net, went two lines, capturing the net in the middle.

Momoi nodded as well. "Those are the lines marking the court- Actually, it'd be easier if I could just get a whiteboard to draw on, ten seconds." She said and went off through a door on the balcony, which Lucy hadn't seen before just now.

While Lucy waited, and wondered what a whiteboard could be, she watched the boys play down there. They seemed to have progressed to playing in teams against each other now, only on one end. They threw the ball around to each other, pushing the ball into the ground a pair of times, before throwing it to one of the other players. A dark-skinned boy with dark, blue hair caught the ball, leaned a little back, then charged in through the one, who was supposedly meant to prevent it. He was too quick for him to catch him. He stood in a good angle to throw the ball in the net, when he pushed off the ground, maybe to make it even better. But right as he was supposed to throw the ball, an extremely tall, purple-haired boy stopped him with a single hand on the ball and his feet never leaving the ground. Without too much effort, the big guy pushed the ball out of the blue-haired boy's hands. The adult man with the brown hair and glasses blew in a whistle and then the two teams changed positions.

Lucy's attention was pulled away, when the sound of something rolling on the floor reached her ears. She turned around and saw Momoi pushing a big, white board with wheels, holding one of those orange balls, different colored marker pens, a sponge of some sort with a plastic grip, round things in different colors, some kind of clothes with a number and several other things.

Obviously it was impossible to carry so many things at the same time and pushing a board like that, and of course Momoi also had heaps of trouble doing it. Lucy hung Akashi's blazer safely over the railing on the balcony and hurried over to help Momoi. "Here, let me help you, Momoi." She offered.

Momoi smiled brightly at her. "Thank you Lucy, it'd be a great help." She said and let Lucy take the markers, the eraser, the basketball clothes, and the ball, while she still held on to the magnets herself. She stopped the board and locked the wheels, so it wouldn't suddenly roll off from her. She'd tried it before, and it wasn't fun.

Lucy watched as Momoi tipped the white board so it sat horizontally and somehow locked it from tipping either forward or backwards again with a simple lock. She put the small, round plastic things in different colors on the board, where they immediately stuck to it, much to Lucy's surprise. "Where do you want me to put this, Momoi?" She asked the pinkette, who handled the materials as if it was as normal as it was for her to summon a Spirit.

Momoi looked at what Lucy was holding and gestured to give it to her. "Please let me take those." She said, to which Lucy quickly complied. She placed the ball at the foot of the board, placed the markers on the little metal part of the stand underneath the whiteboard as well as the eraser. She dropped the clothes on top of the ball and grabbed the black marker. "Okay then. I apologize in advance for my horrible drawing." She said smiled to Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and smiled back. "No, it's all right I draw horribly as well." She said and giggled. Momoi giggled a little too, before taking the cap off the marker and then proceeded to draw a perfect drawing of the court underneath them in a bird's perspective. Or so it seemed to Lucy, at least. "And you said you were a bad drawer." She said in amazement, as she watched the piece of art she'd never be able to even come close to.

Momoi looked at Lucy with an apologizing expression. "Well, it went much better than I had expected it to." She said. "Anyway, I'm sure you can already recognize this as the court down there." She said. Lucy nodded in agreement. "Okay, this line in the middle is the mid-court line, it is what divides the court." She said and pointed at the line going from the middle of the long side of the court to the other one. She moved the marker to the big semi-circle on one of the ends. "This one, we call the three-point arc and this one is the free-throw line." She said and pointed at the line in the circle inside the three-point arc. "I will explain those two later." She reassured Lucy, who was standing and watching the introduction to basketball attentively. "These four lines around the court mark the ends of the court." She said and sweat dropped. She hoped Lucy didn't feel like she was patronizing her here, it'd be awkward, because she really weren't. "Are you with me so far?" She asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think so." She said. She probably would have to read up on it a little more when she got back home, if she could, or ask if maybe Crux or Loke knew about it, just to refresh it, she had a feeling it would be difficult to take in all at once. But she'd definitely do her best, it seemed like it held at least some significance to Akashi.

Momoi smiled widely, happy she could help Lucy. "Great. I think we'll just take a very basic rundown of what basketball is, because the boys will soon be done down there, so we can continue some other time, if you want to?" She asked Lucy hopefully. She really liked the blonde woman already, despite only having known her for a short amount of time.

Lucy nodded quickly and eagerly. This was really interesting, she wanted to learn everything she could about Earth, Akashi and everything else while she still could. Maybe she could use it in one of her stories later on… "Yeah, that'd be awesome." She said.

Momoi almost beamed at Lucy. "Okay, that's a deal, then!" She said ecstatically, almost jumping up and down where she stood in pure joy. But she pulled herself together, she needed to teach Lucy as much as possible with the little time they had left, after all! "Anyway, so basketball is a game you play in teams. There's 12 players on a team, but only five will play on the court at the same time. Throughout the game, you may substitute the players as much as you want." She explained. "In basketball, you get points by throwing the ball in the opposing team's basket, the team with most points will win." She said, pointing at the basketball lying on the floor, looking at Lucy to see if she was following.

Lucy nodded reflexively, when the pinkette took a little break in talking. So far, it seemed like quite a simple game. But since this was what Momoi called a 'basic rundown', she was pretty sure there was much more to it than that.

Momoi smiled and gave Lucy a single nod as she continued. With the capped marker, she pointed at the three-point arc. "If a player throws the ball in the net outside this half-circle, he scores three points." She told her. "If he scores while inside the three-point arc, he gets two points." She explained. "Then there are also what we call free throws, you get that if the opposing team breaks one of the rules. It's a free shot from the free-throw line, where the opponent can't attempt to defend against it, and if you score, it's worth one point. If you miss and one of your teammates catches the rebound, when the ball bounces off the hoop, and he gets it in, he scores two points." She continued her explanation.

Right about now, it was beginning to get a little difficult to follow what the younger girl was telling her, but Lucy was doing her absolute best to understand. But she doubted she could remember it all just on the top of her head, she'd probably need to write it down on something sometime.

Momoi noticed that the sound of the ball being dribbled was now not as hectic and fast as it had been before, and when she looked down, she could also see the guys getting sent to the baths. Akashi's gaze met hers and she understood he wanted her to help Lucy find way down there.

She nodded curtly to him and turned back to the blonde girl in front of her. "The boys are all done now, so we should head down to their dressing rooms." She said and put the marker she'd been holding down on the whiteboard. "I'll show you the way." She offered.

Lucy looked at her with surprise written all over her face. "How can you say that so calmly?" She asked the younger girl, who was the same age as all those guys, whose dressing room she was referring to. As she had expected, Momoi blushed instantly, realizing just what she'd said. Lucy laughed at how her face turned a hot pink color. "Anyway, what about the whiteboard and all?" She asked the pinkette, who'd begun walking towards the stairs, still fighting her blush.

Momoi glanced back at all the things she was leaving behind and nodded to Lucy with a smile. "I was thinking I'd just leave it there, then we can continue on some other time, or I'll use it with the guys." She told Lucy and waited for the blonde to pick up the white piece of clothing she'd brought with her.

Lucy looked at Momoi out of the corner of her eye, feeling her heart twist with guilt. She really liked Momoi, and she had a feeling it was mutual, and she really wanted to learn and experience more of this world and its people, but she didn't know if she would even return here, when she returned to her own world. She shouldn't get her own hopes up for it.

She shrugged the depressing thoughts off and smiled back to Momoi. "Sure." She said, trying not to sound as deflated as she felt. "I'll be looking forward to learning some more another time." She said and followed the pinkette down the stairs. When they reached the end of it, Lucy turned to Momoi. "Say, Momoi, which of the guys are your friend?" She asked her, assuming she'd been waiting for one of them to be done with training.

Momoi looked up at her with a surprised stare. "How did you know that?" She asked, wondering how the Blonde knew she had a close friend on the team.

Lucy smiled at her. "Well, why else would you be waiting here?" She asked her and felt her more mischievous side turn inside her. "Who is he?" She asked, hoping to find out if the pinkette had a crush on one of them.

Momoi returned the smile and shook her head. "Actually, I'm not waiting here for them to be done with training, if that's what you mean. I'm the manager of the team, which means I watch their training and see what the coach doesn't. And when the time comes for them to play against other schools, I'll research those teams, so we're prepared to take them on." She explained to Lucy, feeling proud of her status already. "Although I'm still not too good at it, I'm sure I'll get better once I get a bit more used to the job." She said and blushed.

Lucy smiled at her. "Everyone needs to start somewhere." She said and remembered how when she first started out on her Celestial magic, she couldn't even make the key glow with her golden magic. "So, who's the friend?" She asked her curiously.

Momoi's smile turned softer at the thought of her blue-haired childhood friend. "Yeah, that's Dai-chan. Or Daiki Aomine, as most know him." She said. "He's my childhood friend." She said.

Lucy smiled at her. She'd always dreamed of having a childhood friend, just like Momoi seemed to have with this boy, but the people she met in Momoi's age were all snobby rich kids. Not exactly the best kind of friends out there.

The two walked in silence, through a little hallway, until Momoi stopped up in front of a yellowish door. Behind it, the sound of several showers were heard and the chatting and laughing voices of the whole team caught their ears. The pinkette turned to the older girl and pointed at the door. "I have to go in there, will you be fine waiting out here?" She asked Lucy.

Lucy smiled at her and nodded. "Of course." She said and made herself comfortable with her back against the wall. It wasn't a problem for her at all, it just gave her the opportunity to finally get a little talk with Loke, even if only a little.

Momoi nodded, smiled and waved at Lucy, before opening the door into the guys' dressing room, having drawn the time out enough for them all to be done with bathing at least. As always, she was hit by a wall of thick, deodoranted air, and couldn't even breathe for a second. Everyone looked up just as she entered, but then continued what they had previously been doing. Well, except Akashi, he held her gaze for a second. She nodded and gestured to the door, telling him Lucy was waiting just outside. She got a curt nod in response, before he too continued what he'd been doing.

As soon as Momoi had closed the door behind her, Lucy reached down in her pouch for her Lion Spirit's key. She easily found it and got it off the keyring with as much ease. She stared at the golden key she was holding for just a second, before she closed her eyes and tried reaching Loke. _Loke, are you there?_ She asked him.

 _I will always be here for you, my Princess~_ He flirted with her. She could almost see the wink he'd have given her if he had been standing there, right in front of her.

She rolled her eyes. It was so typical of him. _I don't exactly have time for that right now, Loke. Please tell me all I need to know right now, then we can go over the rest when I return to Earthland._ She said and once again pushed the depressing thoughts of never returning here again.

 _Okay, okay, Princess. I'll eagerly be awaiting the time I can once again see your beautiful face._ He continued on. Lucy found herself sighing in exasperation at him. _For now, the most important thing is that you understand their educational system, I guess._ He told her.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. _Educational system?_ She asked him. They didn't have an education system in Fiore, it was just the children getting taught the necessities to live by their parents and for the richer families, such as her own, private tutors were hired to teach the children how to run a business or how to have proper manners.

She could almost feel her Spirit nodding. _Yeah, on Earth every child, whether rich or poor, gets some kind of education. But it's so much different than what exists in Fiore, it'd be difficult to explain it all in one go._ He trailed off.

Lucy shook her head. _Just start with the very basics, then we can go on from there, I only have a very limited time._ She said and looked at the door. They'd become completely silent in there, save for what she guessed was the coach's voice, telling them what they would be looking up on next time.

 _All right._ Loke agreed. _First off, they have a place they call a school. The school is a place, where they gather a lot of children and young people at the same ages and teach them various kinds of different things. Mathematics, which is kind of like how economy was for you, working with numbers, about the culture and history of their country, about other languages, their own language, reading and analyzing texts, sports, and things like that._ He told her. _You're at one right now, just so you know. It's called… Teiko Junior High, I believe, and it's one of the best Junior High schools in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. You can see which school the person is a part of by the school uniforms they're wearing, it'll all be the same, but in both a girl and a boy variant. The middle school teaches children from the age of thirteen to sixteen at most, roughly, that means three years._ He said and paused. _Hmm, what else would be important… Oh yes! There are what the call clubs at the schools, in which the students - which the children attending the school are called - go to, after lessons are over, with their friends._ He told her.

Lucy was beyond confused with all the information she was getting here, it was all so hard to understand all at once. _Right, so what kind of clubs are there?_ She asked him.

 _Hmm… All kinds of different ones. Tennis, football, art, writer's, book, study, swimming, supernatural even._ He said and chuckled. So there were some people who believed in magic? _Oh yeah, on Teiko they have one of the best basketball clubs, it isn't rare for them to win over the many other schools around_. He told her. _Just thought that was kind of valuable information._

 _Thank you so mu-_ She cut herself off, when she saw the door opening. _I really gotta go now, I'll talk to you when I return, all right?_ She asked him.

Just before his key was put on its place on the keyring, she got the last reply for him. _I will be counting the minutes till your gorgeous smile will light up my day and your wonderful voice will make my heart at ease!_ She was infinitely close to giggling at him. Somehow she managed to keep the mask up, though.

The first to appear from the door was the redhead she'd been waiting for. She smiled and waved at him as she pushed off the wall, easily catching his attention. He gave her a small smile and turned in her direction. She noticed he was wearing the same set he had the other time, a delicate blue dress shirt with a black tie and a pair of black pants. But this time also with a blazer similar to the one she was holding in her arms. He seemed to be the only one, who was getting out.

He stopped up in front of her. "I apologize for making you wait for so long, Lucy." He apologized. "I hope Momoi wasn't a bother to you." He said. He could easily imagine Momoi ranting about something completely unnecessary.

Lucy shook her head and smiled. "No, not at all." She reassured him. "It was quite the contrary, really. She taught me a lot about basketball." She said and though back to the short lesson she'd gotten.

Akashi looked up at her in mild surprise. "You don't know about basketball?" He asked her. To him, basketball had been something everyone around him always knew about as far back as he could remember. He'd never even stopped up to think about the fact that there were people out there, who didn't know about it.

Lucy laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, I didn't know the first thing about it." She said kind of nervously. As she thought, basketball was as natural to Akashi as breathing. "Luckily, Momoi helped me getting the very basics down." She said. "It seems like an interesting sport." She commented.

Akashi smiled. So that had been what they were doing, he'd been wondering what the pink-haired girl had been doing with the whiteboard. "I see, I'm glad you think that." He said.

They didn't get to say anymore, when four people emerged from the door. Lucy looked at the four. She recognized two, one was Momoi, the other was Midorima. Then there also were two others, the purple-haired boy and the blue-haired boy she'd seen playing against each other when Momoi was getting the whiteboard and etc. The three guys were all wearing the same clothes as Akashi, with the white blazer over the blue dress shirt and a pair of black pants. Was this the school uniform Loke had been talking about?

The blue-haired boy seemed to be arguing with Momoi about something, while Midorima was bandaging his left hand's fingers and the purple-haired boy was eating some kind of snack, looking like everything bored him to death.

Lucy smiled brightly. "Midorima! You play basketball here too?" She asked the green-haired boy, who just now finished whatever he was doing and looked up at her.

Midorima looked at the blonde, then realized who she was. "Oh, Lucy. Hello." He greeted her and walked in her and Akashi's direction, leaving the other three behind. He offered a hand for a handshake, while he pushed his glasses up with the bandages up. She took it and smiled brightly at him. "How are your injuries?" He asked her.

Luce waved one hand in front of her face. "Oh, it's all right, it's been taken care of." She reassured him, not really wanting to talk about her injury, seeing as she had no way to explain to them what had actually happened or had made up another story to use. It was first now she realized that the boy so much younger than her was actually taller than she was. She looked at Midorima's bandaged fingers. "Speaking of injuries, what have you been doing with your fingers?" She asked him, worried that he'd hurt them during the training somehow.

Before Midorima could answer for himself, a dark tanned arm landed around his shoulder. "Tch, this idiot's just making sure his fingers will be in top condition when he's supposed to score his three-pointers." The blue-haired boy grinned widely.

Midorima pushed his glasses up again, unnecessarily, so the light hit perfectly on them, making it impossible to see his green eyes. "It is important that my fingers do not get disturbed by irrelevant factors." He told his teammate.

The boy shook his head at his teammate. "Just like how your lucky items are important too, right?" He said and didn't even wait for his reply when he put his hand out towards the blonde girl in front of him. "I'm Daiki Aomine, everyone calls me Aomine, nice to meet you!" He said, a pair of dark blue eyes looking directly at her.

Lucy smiled and took his hand. So this was the childhood friend. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but please, just call me Lucy. It's a pleasure to meet you." I hope this won't be the last, she added in her mind. She just couldn't help herself. She felt a shadow stealing all the light away from her and looked up at the tall, _tall_ purple-haired boy standing in front of her. It should be impossible for someone to be so tall. "Hello, I'm Lucy, what might your name be?" She asked him.

The purple-haired guy looked down at the blonde girl standing in front of him, and then put a piece of the snacks he was carrying around into his mouth. He glanced down at the girl's hand, which was stretched out to him. He wondered what she wanted him to do, then figured it out. "Oh, you want some snacks?" He asked. "Here." He took out one snack and placed it in the girl's hand. He hadn't been listening to her, but why else would she hold her hand out to him?

Lucy sweat dropped at the guy's reaction. "Thank you…?" She trailed off. Either he hadn't been listening, or he was even denser than Natsu. She doubted the second was even a possibility, so she guessed he just hadn't been paying attention. That, or he didn't want to touch her.

Momoi jumped in from the side. "Never mind him, he's a bit weird." She said and smiled. "He's Atsushi Murasakibara, but just call him by his last name." She told Lucy.

Lucy nodded, still confused with Murasakibara's behavior. "All right, thank you, Momoi." She thanked the pinkette, while Aomine was telling Murasakibara he should be listening to the conversation going on in front of him, to which the big guy didn't seem to care at all. Lucy giggled when she realized this bunch was just as weird as her family back at Fairy Tail.

Akashi looked curiously at the blonde girl, who was giggling for some reason he couldn't figure out. "Do you really think Murasakibara's reaction is that funny?" He asked her. Surely, that couldn't be it.

Lucy shook her head and calmed herself down. "No, that's not it. You all just remind me of someone I know." She told them. Really, personality-wise, as far as she could see, these guys fitted right in with Fairy Tail, although not as extreme. Yet anyway.

"What are you all doing over there?" Someone asked loudly from behind the wall of basket players. The person pushed Murasakibara and Midorima to the side, so he could see what was going on. The guy had short, black hair with bangs parted to the left and brown eyes. His face lit up in realization when he saw Lucy. "Oh, you must be Akashi's friend. I'm Shuzo Nijimura, the captain of this basketball team. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled and held a hand out to the girl.

Lucy guessed the meaning of being the captain would be the same as Erza being the leader of Team Natsu, one with leading capabilities, who could keep them all together and such. Lucy smiled and shook his hand. "Likewise. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but just call me Lucy." She said. Her jaws almost hurt with all this smiling.

Nijimura found himself taken aback with the girl's radiant smile. He hated to admit it, but no girl had ever given him such a bright smile or let him use their first name. He'd never even imagined he'd meet a girl as pretty as the one who was currently smiling at him. The word pretty didn't even do her justice, she was outright beautiful. And then there was a kind of… Otherworldly aura around her, he couldn't quite explain it. Or place it.

Nijimura fought hard keep the heat he felt rising to his cheeks away. "If these first years ever cause you any trouble, you can just come to me." He told her with a smile, already feeling stupid for even saying it. Of course she could take care of herself, what was he even thinking?

While Nijimura beat himself up, Lucy just nodded and smiled, trying not to show how shocked she was with the knowledge that even Murasakibara was only 13 years old. "I will remember than, thank you Nijimura." She said.

The captain of the Teiko basketball team looked uncertainly up at the blonde girl, completely forgetting he was standing in front of the five underclassmen. But then he also remembered. "W-well, I got to go, see you all later!" He said and hurried off.

Aomine burst out laughing almost instantly after his captain had left. "What an obvious idiot." He laughed. He knew not to say that in front of the captain, unless he wanted to experience hell, but when he wasn't there…

The rest of the basketball team seemed to emerge from the dressing rooms. "Oi, first years, come on!" One of them called.

Midorima pushed his glasses up. Again. "Seems we've got to go." He commented.

Momoi nodded and turned to Lucy. "Lucy! Will you come by again tomorrow?" She asked eagerly. She really wanted to teach Lucy everything there was to know about basketball and have fun with her. She seemed so nice! Her ideal senpai.

Lucy felt guilt ripping at her heart. She wanted to say there was no doubt, but there was. She nodded slowly. "I'll do everything I can to come again tomorrow." She promised the pinkette. That was all she could do for now. She needed to know more before she could confirm that she could return, but she would do what she could to. Earth seemed like a nice place.

The second years called at them again and the four quickly turned and followed them. But before he got too far, Murasakibara stopped up and looked at Akashi over his shoulder. "Aren't you coming, Aka-chin?" He asked the little redhead, who'd apparently stayed behind with the blonde lady.

Akashi shook his head. "I need to speak with Lucy first. I'll catch up with you later." He told the much taller basketball player.

"Ehh? Really?" Murasakibara said uninterestedly. "See you later then." He said and put another of his snacks into his mouth, chewing on it as he trailed after his team.

Lucy tilted her head a little. "Are you all going somewhere?" She asked Akashi. It seemed that way to her.

Akashi nodded. "Yeah, we're going out to eat all of us. Apparently we're getting some new member, so the coach thought it'd be a good idea to introduce them there instead." He said and sighed. "I don't know what he's thinking." It seemed so much better if they were introduced during practice instead, then they could also gauge their abilities at the same time.

Lucy held the blazer out to him quickly. "Then go with them. Our talk can wait for later!" She said, although she didn't know if that was possible.

Akashi smiled a little smile at the woman's undeniable kindness and shook his head. "It's all right, it's not far from here and there's still some time till it all begins." He said and took his blazer. She'd been carrying around on it for long enough already.

Lucy looked at him with a worried expression and tilted her head. "Are you sure? It seems quite important." She said. She knew, if there came new members to Fairy Tail, she'd try to get along with them as well as possible. Not showing up to their first meeting wouldn't give the best first impression after all.

Akashi nodded. "Yes, I'm sure." He reassured her. Why was it she seemed so easy to talk to, this woman? It felt like he could tell her everything and he could trust her. It was like nothing he'd experienced before. Normally he didn't really trust anyone, but with Lucy, he couldn't _not_ trust her. There was just an air of confidentiality about her. Yet, he had no idea how he should go about starting the conversation with her.

Lucy slid down the wall and ended up sitting on the floor with one leg pulled up. She patted the floor next to her, looking up at the younger boy next to her. "Come on, sit down, Akashi." She told him. It was always much easier to talk to someone when she sat down, that was how she always felt it. "You have something you want to ask me, right?" She asked him.

Akashi looked at the place she wanted him to sit on for a second, before he bent down and occupied it, sitting with his back to the wall and crossing his legs by the ankles. "Yes, I do." He said hesitantly. How did he phrase this so it didn't sound like he attacked her? Why was he even thinking about this? It was unusual for him to do so. "I have been wondering why you suddenly disappeared yesterday." He stated. He chose to leave out the fact that she had taken his blazer with her. No matter how he phrased it, it would sound like he was blaming her for stealing it.

Lucy tipped her head back to the wall and threw her arms around that one leg. She had figured that had been his question. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that." She apologized. "But I got a look at the time and remembered I had to hurry home." She lied. She really, _really_ hated it. She felt like her voice was shaking so much when she did, it'd be obvious to Akashi she was lying. But what was even worse, was the way the guilt once again gnawed at her heart. She wished she could just tell him, but she knew he would just think she was crazy if she did. And of course she didn't want that. "I first thought I should have left a note or tell you when I was halfway home." She added.

Akashi nodded. He felt there was more to it than that, but he figured there was a reason she wasn't telling him, so he let it be for the time being. "I see, that's unfortunate." He said, not sure what else to say.

Lucy turned her head and looked at the wall on the other side of the hallway they were sitting in. "Say, Akashi, how long have you been playing basketball?" She asked him, but immediately regretted it, when she saw Akashi's face.

The redhead was looking down at his hands. That was one topic he really hated talking about. Normally. But with Lucy… He could tell her anything, he knew that. "I… I played basketball with my mother at home as far back as I can remember, whenever I had the free time to do so. That was until she passed away.." He trailed off, not even looking up at the girl next to him. "Despite my father's wishes, I joined the basketball team in my elementary school and honed my skills there." He told her. He couldn't remember ever telling anyone about this. To think he'd tell it to someone who was basically a stranger to him. He was broken out of his melancholic mood, when he felt a hand beginning to thread through his somewhat long hair.

Lucy looked down at the boy, who suddenly seemed much smaller, as if he'd shrunk during the explanation, with a tenderness in her eyes and touch. "I'm sorry, Akashi, I shouldn't have brought it up." She said and was just about to cry herself. She knew how he felt, she' gone through losing her mother too once, she knew how much it hurt. And that was why she couldn't resist doing what she could to cheer the boy up. Without hesitation, she pulled the boy into a hug, gently streaking his head. "I'm so sorry…" She said as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Akashi's eyes widened at the sudden gesture. Last time he'd been hugged was back when his mother was still alive. That was a very long time ago… He promised himself he wouldn't cry. He told himself at his mother's funeral that he wouldn't cry over her again. He would be strong for her. When he tried to push away from the older girl, her grip on him only tightened. "Lucy…?" He asked hesitantly, wondering what was going on with her.

Lucy realized what she was doing and quickly ended the hug. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She said and did what she could to dry her cheeks and eyes. But it was easier said than done.

Akashi looked at the woman with a surprised expression. "Are…" He trailed off. He didn't believe his eyes. "Are you crying, Lucy?" He asked her hesitantly. No one had ever cried for his sake. No one. Why would she? Why would a stranger cry for him? He didn't understand it at all.

Lucy smiled a teary smile at him. "I guess I am." She said and giggled the most depressing giggle she'd ever giggled. "I just can't stand it. You've had it so hard, Akashi. I wish I could have been there for you." She said. If his life had been anything like how hers had been when she was his age, she knew how hard it was, the first years after were always the hardest. Then your heart would just… Close off to everyone around you. You'd be almost completely emotionless and just do what your father told you. Until something once again awakened you… That was what happened to her, until she found Fairy Tail.

This just made Akashi even more confused. What was she talking about? She almost said that as if she understood what he'd gone through. But it wasn't possible. Of all the other wealthy family's children, there was not a single one who'd gone through the same thing as him. His father had already been strict when his mother was alive, it only tendoubled when his mother passed away.

Lucy shook her head to get all the thoughts out of her head. She smiled at Akashi again. "Don't you think you should catch up to your team now, they must be waiting for you?" She asked him. Honestly, she just felt awkward crying in front of a boy she hardly even knew, but she just couldn't stop herself.

Akashi looked at Lucy's face, trying to decipher if she was telling him to go out of kindness or if it was because she really wanted him to go. Something told him it was the first of the two. He slowly got on his feet and looked down at the golden top of hair. "Will you be okay finding your way home?" He asked her.

Lucy nodded and looked up at him. "I found my way here, surely I can find back too." She said and did the best she could to not sound as sad as she was.

Akashi nodded and waved goodbye, getting one in return, before he slowly began tracking towards the exit of the hall, where the others had left just a little while ago. Suddenly, he heard the sound of water hitting the fabric of the blazer he was holding. He looked down to see a little, dark dot on the white fabric. Slowly he moved his free hand up to his cheeks.

His eyes widened when he felt his skin had a moist line going down from his eye. He turned around towards Lucy, but there wasn't even a trace of her left. She was completely gone.

 **Ohh, my. Akashi revealing some past right there and Lucy taking a trip down memory lane, reviving old sorrows on both sides. And getting introduced to the most important characters of the Teikou team! Or some of them at least. What's up with Nijimura's reaction? Could something be underway? And how is it Loke knows so much about it all? Will Lucy ever return to Earth?!**

 **You know… It's actually really awkward for me to write the thing with Nijimura, 'cause he's only about 14/15 years old, whereas Lucy is 17/18. Well, so be it, age is just a number, right? RIGHT?!  
Oh, you might want to know Akashi and the other Miracles-to-be are all 13 years, so… Yeah. **

**Hope you guys liked the chapter! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting! I appreciate it a lot! More than you can imagine, actually.**

 **~Line464d**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Today, there'll be a bit more information about Earth coming from Loke, Lucy will learn a lot of things, hopefully! What will she do though, will she ever see Akashi and everyone else again?**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Slowpoke and Abra are at this conference for the slow people, let's hope it puts some pep in their writing, right? And their handing over of their stories to me. It can't be long now**

 **Earthland~**

Lucy grunted and turned in her bed, so she now lay on her back. She was still half asleep, so it'd be easy just to go back to sleep. Just for five more minutes…

She jolted up in her bed with wide open eyes when the memory of her way too vivid dream returned to her. Or should she say journey to another world? She remembered everything too well for it to be a dream.

She felt the skin around her eyes being completely stiff, as if it had been stretched out to could cover her cheeks. She reached up and touched the skin with her fingers. They were hot and moist as if she'd just been crying moments ago. Maybe she had. She hadn't been able to stop herself when Akashi told her that his mother too had died. Both because she felt infinitely sorry for the boy, but also because it had made her own memories flow through her head like a slideshow.

She smiled softly at it all. She hoped she hadn't reacted too overwhelmingly for the red-haired boy, that she hadn't sparked up feelings and memories he'd long buried.

She'd been a little too quick to assume things, though. Almost right off the bat, she assumed that Akashi's father was as strict as hers had been. And of course that wasn't necessarily true. Akashi's father might be the nicest living creature on this planet. But why had she assumed all that then?

She shook her head, finally noticing she was still wearing the clothes Mira had lent her. She looked out of the window. The sun was already up on the clear, blue sky. So she'd been at Earth for the duration of a whole night? Then why wasn't she tired at all? She felt rejuvenated and not bleary-eyes, as if she'd been sleeping instead of learning what felt like tons of new stuff in another world.

She furrowed her eyebrows and fell back in her bed again. So it was probably safe to assume she would travel to Earth whenever she fell asleep or was unconscious. Which meant… She'd probably have to be more careful on missions now. She didn't know how she could force herself to go back, it was all such a mystery to her.

She tapped her chin lightly in thought. She had now been to Earth twice, what were the similarities?

One way or another, she had to lose consciousness to go there. She chose just to put sleeping into the 'unconscious' category, after all you almost lost consciousness when you slept.

Both times she'd been wearing the clothes she had been wearing in Earthland - and they were in the same state - so that meant she'd basically have to be wearing proper clothes when she went to sleep. Awesome.

Just like she'd been told by grandpa Crux, whatever she touched came with her to the other world. For example the blazer, she'd been holding it both times, when she teleported. But at the same time, something prevented for example her bed and covers to come with her as well. What were the reasons for this? Could she only have a limited amount with her, or was it something else? A natural filter, or something?

Both of the times, she had appeared somewhere near Akashi, so if she linked it with the two words which had been stuck in her head ever since the other day, she could only assume that wherever she'd appear, it would have something to do with Akashi.

Akashi seemed to have also found her sleeping both times, so it wouldn't be a far stretch to say she'd be appearing sleeping every time from now. She sighed, she just hoped at least once in a while, she would wake up before they woke her.

And when she went home again, she'd always fall asleep in Earth, before waking up in Earthland. ARGH! It was all so confusing!

She covered her face in her hands and slowly dragged them down. There was so much to consider with all of this, so much she had to take into account. And she didn't know where to begin.

She sighed again, she needed to write this down somewhere. She looked around in the room for something she could write on, when her gaze landed on the table where her story lay. She scrunched her face up, she really didn't want to use the paper meant for writing, but as it was right now, she didn't seem to have anything else she could do.

She got up from the bad and took a clean sheet of paper from the pile. Without even considering sitting down, she began scribbling on the paper, writing down everything she had just gone through and what Crux had told her. When she was done, it almost filled the entire page.

She stretched her body with her hands over her head, when she suddenly remembered she was still wearing Mira's clothes. She needed to clean those and give them back to Mira, but before that she would have to talk with Loke and hear what he had to tell her about Earth. But first, she needed a bath.

 **A little later~**

"Wow, Earthlings are amazing." Lucy commented. She had already taken a long and refreshing bath, one which was much needed, had washed Mira's clothes, so they were now drying, and was currently talking with Loke.

Her Lion Spirit had told her everything she could imagine she should know about Earth and its inhabitants. They were really amazing over there. Earthland and Earth truly were similar in many ways. They had pretty much the same furniture, with ovens, fridges and washing machines, just to mention some of them. But where Earthland relied on magic and Lacrima, Earth had managed to draw out the sources of Earth and had made it all work without magic. And most amazing of all, they had the same constellations on the night sky as Earthland had"

Their criminality wasn't as gruesome as it could be in Earthland, since they were 'only' humans bound by their laws of physics, whereas here they had dark mages, who could do so much more destruction. That wasn't to say Earth couldn't cause destruction, because with their bombs they had done it countless times.

On other points though, Earth also lacked behind. They easily started war, simply because they didn't believe the same things or didn't see the world the same way. Even for the expansion of their own countries. In two occasions, they had dragged their whole world into a war, one single person.

Earthland didn't do wars much. Once in a while an awful dictator would show up and try to expand his own territory, of course there was, but it wasn't quite as… Frequent as they seemed to be on Earth. It was like they thought the only way to find a solution to things was through war.

Lucy tilted her head as she looked at her Spirit. "Say, Loke, how can you know so much about all of this? You seem to know much more than grandpa Crux." She said. She remembered Crux saying that there wasn't much known about Earth other than what he had told her, but then here came Loke and told her all she could ever wish to know about that world.

Loke sweat dropped and scratched the back of his head. "Well…" He trailed off. "Please don't tell anyone, but I might have snooped around places where I weren't allowed to…" He said and chuckled nervously.

Lucy looked incredulously at him. Was he telling her he'd been reading classified stuff? "Why?" She simply asked him. She didn't understand, why would he do this?

Loke smiled at her and winked through his glasses. "Anything for you, my Princess." He said flirtatiously. When Lucy gave him an annoyed glare, Loke sighed. "All right." He relented at last. "You know how, when Crux searches for something, he will only find it if it is somehow connected with Celestial magic, and take it from that point of view, picking out only the most important things, right?" He asked her. Lucy nodded. "Yes, so I wanted you to know more about that world, both because you need it and because it's interesting. But as it turns out, the information I could gather really didn't tell me much more than what Crux had told you already, so I did a little digging." He explained.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. She had a bad feeling about this. "Where, Loke? Where did you begin digging?" She asked him worriedly. What if he got into trouble again? It'd be highly likely.

Loke threw his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Well… In the Spirit King's private library, of course." He said as if it was the most obvious and normal thing in the world.

Lucy slammed her hand to her forehead. "Loke! Don't just barge into people's private libraries with classified information. There's a reason why you shouldn't go there!" She scolded her Spirit halfheartedly.

Loke sprung from his chair and threw his arms around her waist desperately with tears flowing from his eyes in steady streams. "Forgive me Princess! I just wanted to help you any way I could!" He said childishly. "Don't scold me!" He wailed.

Lucy giggled and smiled widely at him, gently threading her fingers through his lion's mane. "I forgive you Loke, of course I do." She said. What was there even to forgive? "Just take care of yourself." She said and squeezed his shoulder affectionately.

Loke looked up at her with a smile and squeezed her waist in response. "Of course, Princess. You too." He said. After all, it wasn't him, who'd be changing worlds every time he went to sleep. The Lion Spirit noticed his Princess seemed to be in a far off world. He untangled himself and sat down on the couch next to the blonde girl, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into him. "What are you thinking about, Princess?" He asked her.

This snapped Lucy out of her thoughts and she focused her sight on Loke, who had moved since she began thinking. "Oh, I'm just adding everything together, really." She told him.

He squeezed her shoulder. "Hm? Wanna share?" He asked her, curious to know what she'd found out. To anyone who didn't know them, it'd seem like they were having quite an intimate moment, when in reality they were just like a pair of overly close siblings.

Even though the Lion Spirit told the blonde girl he loved her many more times than he could count, it wasn't the romantic kind, although that was what it seemed from the outside. No, it was completely platonic, a love he reserved only for her, as his mistress, savior and best friend. Why her? Well, because she literally saved his life, of course. Ever since he became one of her Spirits and opened his heart to people again, the two of them had found out how well their personalities and way of thinking actually suited each other. What one didn't have, the other easily made up for.

Lucy leaned her head back on her Spirit's chest, relaxing completely into him. "Well, just the fact that I'll have to watch out on missions now. A lot more than before." She said. When Loke remained completely silent, she took it as an invitation to continue. "As I experienced on the last mission, whatever injuries I get I'll also have on Earth. So if I get knocked out just as I did then, it would be suspicious." She said thoughtfully.

Loke cracked an eye open and looked worriedly at Lucy. "Your injuries… Lucy, how are they doing?" He asked her with furrowed eyebrows. He assumed she was hit with the same combination he was, which gave her all the smaller burns. The worst one was at her stomach, where the fire-guy had hit her.

Lucy turned her head and looked at him with a weird face. "My injuries?" She asked him, completely forgetting she was actually injured for a moment, even though she'd mentioned it herself a moment ago. She waved her hand in front of her face, just like she had with Midorima. "Oh, it's all right already." She said, brushing it off.

Loke gave her a stern look. "Lucy." He said firmly. He knew she had a habit of putting up a brave face in any situation, if it would prevent someone from worrying about her. And it was good, sometimes that was a good ability, but he really wished she'd at least let _him_ know when she was hurting.

Lucy giggled at him. "I mean it, Loke, it doesn't hurt more than if I burned myself while cooking, you don't need to worry about me." She reassured him. She suddenly remembered the clothes hanging to dry in her bathroom. "Oh! Mira's clothes! They must be clean now." She said and jumped out of her Spirit's embrace and off the couch.

Loke sighed with a defeated smile. She just didn't want to talk about it, it seemed. He got off the couch and followed her to the bathroom, where he leaned against the doorframe and watched as Lucy squeezed the clothes lightly to see if they were dry.

Lucy pulled the clothes down when she felt they were dry. "You know.." Loke said behind her, making her look at him over her shoulder. "You can always ask someone for help with training." He suggested.

Lucy looked at her Spirit with a confused expression. "What are you thinking, Loke?" She asked her Spirit, wondering what he could have in mind.

He smiled at her. "I mean maybe you can ask someone in the guild to help you getting some training done." He suggested. He would have absolutely loved to do it himself, but he knew he'd hold back on her and that wasn't optimal when she was trying to train.

"Hmm.." Lucy said and pulled down the last piece of clothing. What Loke was suggesting definitely wasn't a bad idea, and she felt stupid for not thinking of it herself.

If she trained, she would get strong enough to at least prevent herself from being knocked out during missions and maybe even decrease the rate of injuries she got so much it wasn't necessary to bandage her all up, like she was now, if she got strong enough. Not only that, in the end she would become strong enough to not depend on her team every time she was in trouble. That was hitting two birds with one stone, or three depending on how you looked at it.

She sweat dropped. "There's just one problem, though…" She said, already feeling the horror of her realization. "It can't be with anyone from Team Natsu." She reminded Loke. Last time she'd tried training with them, it'd gone all wrong. Gray almost trapped her in ice, Natsu almost roasted her with his fire and Erza almost impaled her with all of her swords. If she wanted to survive training, it couldn't be with any of those.

Loke shook his head at her and grinned. "No, I can imagine that." He said and laughed. He knew her team was outrageous and definitely wouldn't go easy on her, looking from the outside anyway. But since he knew them as well as he did, he knew they would never, ever hurt her so much she would be put in the hospital or anything of the like. But she wouldn't learn anything by them, they wouldn't know what to do. And just like him, they would hold back. After all, they only _almost_ did all of those things.

She tapped her chin with her index finger as she went through her thoughts. Hmm, if not her team, then who would help her? Juvia sure wouldn't, saying she wouldn't help her Love-Rival, she doubted anything she could say would make the Rain woman change her mind on that one. Mira would definitely say yes to her if she asked, but Lucy would feel like a burden if she forced Mira away from her busy job as barmaid. Either way, she was also too afraid to train with Mira… Then, Elfman maybe? Nahh, that wouldn't work either. Who else could-

"You should pick Gajeel."

Lucy turned her head and looked at the person who'd suggested that, wondering if he could read her mind. "Huh?" She said dumbly, finally realizing just what had been said.

Loke nodded at her seriously. "I'm serious." He reassured her. Gajeel would be perfect for the job. He wouldn't hold back on her and he wouldn't be as stupid as Team Natsu could be, he would know where to start.

Lucy's face dropped even more in incredulity. "Huuuhhh?" She asked once again, her brain having completely shut down.

Loke pushed his glasses up, much like how Midorima did. "I know, I know, but it makes sense." He told her, when she just stared at him with a dumb expression, he continued. "Gajeel will know how to go about teaching you what you will need to learn, even if it's about your magic. Even though he may not seem like it, he's pretty smart. On that topic anyway." He said. "He's tried it before, after all." He then commented with a knowing grin.

She took a step closer to him and crossed her arms, which were holding Mira's clothes. "Oh really now? And how am I supposed to convince him to do that?" She asked him. Who could he be talking about though? Who had Gajeel been training before?

Loke chuckled at her. "Well, Princess, I'm sure you'll figure something out!" He said and then disappeared with a poof.

Lucy glared at the spot where her Spirit had just been standing. "LOKE! GET BACK HERE!" She yelled at him. But she knew he wouldn't hear her, of course she knew. She cursed under her breath. "Damn that lion..!" She growled at the now empty doorway.

 **At the guild~**

As Lucy passed the threshold to the guild, she still hadn't figured out what she should tell Gajeel to convince him to help her train. But she had seen what Loke had meant, though. Gajeel, as far as she could see, was not _just_ fighting on brute strength. If brute strength wasn't enough, that is. That was exactly the kind of fighting she needed to learn so she could mix it with her magic.

She sighed, she really needed to figure it out before asking. She quickly pushed it off her mind and smiled at everyone who greeted her, greeting back and waving, just as she always had. He quickly made it to the bar - not without having to dodge a flying barrel of booze though - and sat down at her favorite chair, waiting patiently for Mira to appear from the back, where she was probably preparing food for someone.

In the meantime, Lucy turned around in her seat and watched the guild hall, which was still not filled with all the members. Those of them, such as Cana, who had stayed there, drinking the night away and partying all night long, were spread across the floor, snoring loudly. That included Macao and Wakaba too of course. Bisca and Alzack were also there, sitting at a table and chatting about something. They looked so cute together, why couldn't they just confess to each other already? Elfman was also sitting on the other side of the bar, maybe he was the one Mira was currently making the food for. It seemed the Thunder God Tribe was also sitting around a table, chatting in hushed voices with each other. And then, her best - girl - friend and the worst bookworm she'd ever know, was sitting at a table near the corner of the guild, where Gajeel was grumpily chewing on a piece of iron.

Lucy turned around in her chair and propped her elbows up on the counter, resting her chin in her hands. She really had to figure out what to say to the Iron Dragon Slayer. They weren't exactly on the best terms, the two of them. Since Gajeel had tortured her back at Phantom Lord, he'd been walking in big circles around her, as if he was feeling guilty about it all. She had no idea why he would though, she had already told him that she forgave him long ago, after all it was an order he'd gotten.

Wait… No, she couldn't be so cruel to the Iron Dragon Slayer. She couldn't blackmail him with that, it wouldn't be right if he really felt bad with having done it. No wait, maybe she could use it to help her convince him she had forgiven him. Ohh, but she would feel so guilty doing something like that.

Finally, the door to the kitchen opened and the silver-haired barmaid appeared from behind the door. She saw Lucy sitting in her usual chair, but completely lost in thought. She smiled gently at her and placed the food in front of her brother. "Here you go, Elfman." She said and smiled brightly at him.

Elfman smiled at her. "Thank you Mira-nee, you're a real man!" He said and dug into his meal. "And you cook like a man too!" He exclaimed, before continuing on with his meal.

Mira giggled and turned to the blonde, who still didn't seem like she was on Earthland. "Lucy." She said, startling the girl out of her thoughts. "Just the usual strawberry milkshake, right?" She asked her.

Lucy hesitated for a moment, figuring out what was going on, before nodding. "Yeah, sure, thank you Mira." She said and smiled brightly at the barmaid. It wasn't what she had actually come for, but now she was here ad got one offered, she might as well get it. She really wanted one too.

Mira smiled and nodded at her. "I'll get one right away!" She said and went back to the kitchen again, only to return a moment later with the ingredients she needed for the strawberry milkshake.

Lucy listened on as Mira happily hummed a tone out loud while preparing her Celestial friend's favorite milkshake. The maid soon finished up and placed the soft pink drink in front of Lucy and rested her elbows on the desk, putting her head in her hands and smiling brightly at the blonde girl.

She tilted her head at the blonde woman as she pulled the straw into her mouth. "How are your injuries doing, Lucy?" She asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes internally. She was the third to ask in less than 24 hours, why did everyone worry so much? Lucy smiled at her. "Don't worry, Mira, they're doing all right." She reassured her. If Gajeel also decided to ask, she'd punch his face. Her face lit up as she remembered what she had actually come to do. "Oh yeah, thank you again for lending me your clothes, I've washed them for you." She said and held the clothes up.

Mira took them with a smile. "Oh you shouldn't have, I could have washed those myself." She said thankfully. Every inch of that stellar mage was just pure kindness and Mira loved her for it. She took the clothes and put them into a free space under the counter. "Thank you for taking your time to wash them, though." She thanked her.

Lucy nodded with a smile and drank some of the almost heavenly drink. "Ohh, Mira! You need to tell me the recipe for this thing!" She said dreamily.

Mira laughed at her and lifted a finger in front of Lucy. "No, can't do that." She said. When she saw Lucy's pouting face, she just laughed at her again. "After all, if you knew, you wouldn't even bother to show up here, right?" She asked her.

Lucy giggled and shook her head. "Of course I would! Half the taste comes from the company, isn't that what they say?" The blonde asked. That just made Mira laugh heartily and nod.

Mira was just about to agree with Lucy when she was interrupted. "Oi! Demon Maid! Do you have any iron?" A gruff voice asked, accompanied with the heavy sound of an arm landing on the desk.

Both ladies turned their heads to see Gajeel standing a little away and glaring halfheartedly at the whitehaired maid. Mira sent Lucy an apologetic smile, before turning to the Iron Slayer. "Have you already finished all the other iron I gave you earlier?" She asked him.

Gajeel grunted. "Of course I have." He told her. "Now go get some more unless you want me to begin on your silverware." He ordered the barmaid menacingly.

Of course, Mira wasn't at all intimidated by Gajeel's glare. "Please don't touch my silverware, Gajeel." She said with an ominously calm voice. When Gajeel grunted in response, she gave him one of her bright smiles and turned around to go find some iron specially ordered for the Dragon Slayer.

Lucy stared directly down at the wooden desk in front of her while she absentmindedly kept drinking her strawberry milkshake. She knew. This was the perfect chance for her to ask him, but now she just really couldn't get herself to even say a word to him. They hadn't spoken much, obviously, only when he'd forced her to dress up as a bunny. She guessed he felt bad for doing that too, since that was when he started avoiding her.

But she really needed to ask him now, didn't she? It was the perfect opportunity, she knew that. If she didn't take the chance now, she'd probably think herself stupid far into the future. No, scratch that, she would definitely feel dumb. And why was it such a big hurdle anyway?

She gritted her teeth at her own strangeness. She pushed the stool back and turned around to face Gajeel, who was staring blankly at the wall in front of him. "Gajeel." She called out to the Dragon Slayer.

Gajeel turned his head towards the blonde. He knew she would call out to him. "Eh? What do you want, Bunny-Girl?" He asked her. He didn't really want to face her as it was right now. Or at any other time.

Lucy crossed her arms. She didn't want Gajeel to see how much they were actually shaking, although he probably already knew. "I want you to train me, please." She told him, doing her best no to avert her gaze from his piercing, crimson eyes.

Gajeel lifted an eyebrow in surprise. _That_ , he hadn't expected. "What?" He asked her, feeling dumbfounded. He'd expected that she would tell him that she really hadn't forgiven him after all or some shit like that, but this? No, that didn't even pop up in his memory for one damn second.

Lucy nodded. "You heard right, I asked you to please train me." She confirmed for him. She probably sounded crazy to him, but she had several reasons, although she wasn't sure if she should tell him all of them. "I want to learn how to defend myself." She told him.

The Iron Slayer shook his head. "And what makes you think I would help you with that?" He asked her, flinching at the harsh words. He didn't actually want to hurt her, he'd done that enough already. "Don't you have your own team?" He asked her, staring forward again. Those dumb idiots could help her.

Before Lucy could answer him, Mira reappeared with her arms carrying a bunch of the iron Gajeel had been asking for. "Here you go, Gajeel." She said and laid it all in front of him. Gajeel accepted it with a grunt, swept them all into his arms and then went back to his dark corner.

Lucy hesitated for a second, before following the black haired Dragon Slayer. "No, it has to be you, Gajeel!" She told him, watching as he grumpily sat down at his seat.

He looked up at the blonde in front of him. Why weren't she getting off his back already? It was getting annoying. "And why is that?" He asked her.

Lucy stopped up, standing almost right in front of him, looking adamantly at him. She wouldn't give up. "Because they can't teach me anything." She said, feeling guilty for just saying it. "I know you can, Loke even suggested it." She told him.

"Loke?" Gajeel asked. The name rang a bell, but he couldn't place where he had heard that name from before. Was he supposed to know? But it had an annoying sound to it. He already knew he didn't like whoever or whatever the hell 'Loke' was.

Lucy nodded. "My Lion Spirit." She said. "He said that you would know where to start with me." She told him. When he didn't say anything else, she sighed. "Do I really have to do this?" She asked him. He took a deliberately dismissive bite of his iron. Lucy bowed her head and let her arms hang loosely by her sides. "You forced me to do this." She muttered. She tipped her head up again, looking at Gajeel with a lite form of her Demon side. "If you don't do this, I won't forgive you!" She told him, feeling more guilt than she could describe with words for using that against him.

Gajeel looked up at her with a bored gaze. Although, that was just a cover, inside he felt infinitely bad for what Lucy had implied. He looked down at the iron he was holding, then closed his eyes. "That's what I deserve." He whispered. After all the things he'd done, redemption wasn't anything he would achieve so easily. He'd already accepted he wouldn't get any forgiveness for what he had done.

She saw Gajeel's suffering expression and sat down next to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "If you think that, you can't be all that bad." She said and smiled at him.

He looked up at her. What was with this woman? Didn't she ever give up? "What do you mean?" He asked her. The other times she had said she forgave him, she had also added things like that, and they always confused him.

"It's simple." She said and lifted a finger in emphasis. "If you didn't regret and feel guilty for all you had done, then you wouldn't even be a member of Fairy Tail." She told him. "Makarov brought you in because he believed this would help you getting over all you've done, so you can accept yourself. Even redeem yourself, I guess." She said to him softly.

Gajeel looked at the blonde girl with raised eyebrows in surprise. Was this girl somehow able to read his damn mind? How did she know all that? No one could hit so spot on without having been told exactly what happened. But obviously he hadn't told her what he thought, he didn't tell anyone. So how did she…?

Lucy leaned back against the wall and dropped her hands to her lap. "Think about it this way, if you help me getting stronger, then, in the future, that may save my life." She said and then looked up at him again. "Don't you think that would make us equal?" She asked him.

Gajeel looked at her with an incredulous expression. "I guess…" He muttered.

Lucy nodded and giggled. "Just think about how funny it'd be if I thoroughly kicked Natsu's ass, though." She said as she imagined it herself. "The surprise on his face would be priceless."

"Gihi! That's right, Bunny-Girl!" He agreed. That way, he would also indirectly beat him. Not only would he repay Lucy for what he had done to her, he would also repay Natsu for what that pink-haired bastard had done to him. It was basically a win-win situation for him! Gajeel dumped his large hand on top of the blonde's head and grinned. "That's a deal then, Bunny-Girl." He said, then eyed the bandages showing around her stomach under her shirt. "But only after you have been completely healed." He told her.

Lucy sighed, but with a smile. "I figured you'd say that." She said and then sent him a bright smile. "But thank you, Gajeel. I'll be looking forward to beginning with you." She told him.

"Gihi!" He laughed. "I won't go easy on you, Bunny-Girl. Don't you dare back out." He said and grinned, already thinking up the various vicious training schedules he could appoint to her. Oh, it'd be the moment of his time watching the blonde kick the Salamander's ass.

 **Yup, yup, that'll be it for now. Hope you all liked it!**

 **Next chapter.. Well, we'll see!**

 **Thank you all for reading, favoriting, following and/or reviewing!**

 **~Line464d**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Well, wonder what'll happen this time around!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: Slowpoke and Abra went on a stroll here the other day, it seems they got lost. But they brought their stories, so I guess they have something to do to pass the time.**

 **At Lucy's~**

Lucy locked the door up and went through it into her home. She sighed. It had been a long day, dealing with Fairy Tail's usual rambunctiousness, especially from her own team, but that hadn't been what had actually made the day long. Her thoughts continually returned to Earth and the people she'd met there, what she would do on missions or if she fell asleep on the train, what she should tell her friends, _if_ she should tell her friends, how she should deal with changing between worlds, how long she would be doing this, and if she would even see them again. It was all so messed up and she honestly didn't know what she thought of it all.

On one side, it was amazing she got the opportunity to explore a completely different world and meeting people there, of course it was. But the unpredictability of it all was kind of… Worrisome. It seemed she just appeared at random spots, and sleeping no less. Even if it was Earth, that was definitely weird, finding someone sleeping on the floor or wherever she would be sleeping.

It was all so weird. Why was she even sent there? Why her? What was the purpose? The only thing she had to go on were those two words she had heard… Yesterday? It seemed like it was several days ago.

She scratched the back of her head. Well, whatever the case was, she would find out at some point. Probably. Maybe. Possibly. She didn't even know.

"URGH! IT'S SO _FRUSTRATING!_ " She yelled at nothing in particular, messing with her hair.

"What's up, Luce?" A voice asked her from the front. Lucy looked up to see her best, salmon-haired friend and his blue winged cat sitting on her bed and her window wide open. "Have you gone crazy?"

"Lushy's finally showing her true nature~" The cat sang happily.

Lucy glared at him. "Am not, damn cat!" She hissed at it, her demon personality breaking through once again. That cat always knew how to get under her skin.

Happy quickly jumped behind his best friend and buddy, grabbing his shoulders and hanging on tightly. "Natsu! Lushy is going to kill me!" He wailed hysterically.

Lucy growled and swore to herself that one day she would get back at that cat for all the times he insulted her, she swore she would. But she would wait till she had even more to pay him back for.

Instead, she stood with crossed arms and looked at the Fire Dragon Slayer. "So, what are you doing here, Natsu?" She asked him. She had hoped for a calm evening where she could just take a bath and tell Loke that Gajeel surprisingly had agreed.

Natsu grinned widely at her. "I came to see you, of course!" He exclaimed happily, with Happy agreeing excitedly behind him, pumping a paw in the air.

Lucy smiled at him and shook her head. "Fine. But I need a bath, though, please wait out here till I'm done, okay?" She asked him. Natsu nodded eagerly and with a wide, innocent grin. Right as she was about to pass the threshold to the bathroom, new clothes in hand, she turned around and smiled at her friend, who was still sitting on the bed. "You can go grab something in the fridge, if you want." She offered him.

Natsu grinned his trademark grin and jumped off the bed. "Thank you, Luce!" He said and stalked to the fridge, pulling it open with much more force than what was necessary.

Lucy went into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, before turning the water on, it always took so long to heat up. She quickly undressed, dropping her clothes on the floor. She carefully began pulling off the bandages covering her whole body, she even looked like a mummy to herself. She gritted her teeth as she pulled them off, it was like ripping patches off, just slowly. Which was also stupid, she should just get it over and done with.

The blonde clenched her eyes shut and ripped at the bandages. She kept the whimper, which threatened to burst from the confines of her teeth, since she knew the Slayer out there would hear her and come running if she did. She repeated this with all the other bandages as well. She looked at herself in the mirror. The smaller burns were already looking like they would heal perfectly fine in no time. The one on her stomach was still bad, but as she had told them all, she had been burnt by Natsu's flames before, and as they were a dragon's, they were much hotter. She had healed perfectly by those before, so it should definitely be the same this time around. She would just have to wait for it. Still though, the angry red skin was so excruciatingly sore she could only imagine how much it would hurt with the hot water running over it. It was so ugly, disrupting the softness of her otherwise completely smooth skin. It almost looked like it rippled, almost like the way a plane water-surface would if a drop landed in it. And there was a faint hint of where the fist had hit her, that part being a bit angrier than the rest of her skin.

She threw the used bandages out and jumped under the shower. She felt the warm water hitting the top of her head, running down her skin from her hair and all the way down her stomach and legs. Once again, she fought with herself not to make any noise when the water hit her burned skin.

She reached out for the shampoo, squeezed some of the creamy liquid out into her hand and then massaged it into her hair. She closed her eyes as she felt hear head becoming slightly heavier with the added weight of it. She tipped her head back into the water and washed it all out.

Loud knocks were heard from the door and Lucy immediately covered herself, even though she knew the door was locked. "Oi, Luce! Do you have any matches anywhere?" Natsu asked as he continued to bang on the door.

Lucy giggled, both because she was being ridiculous and at Natsu's weird eating tastes. "Yeah, there should be some in one of the drawers in the kitchen!" She yelled back at him, loud enough to drown the noise of the shower.

She quickly finished up with conditioner and body soap, ignoring the stings of pain she got doing it. She grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it while she put on her underwear. Next she wrapped her hair in it, so she got the free space to work on bandaging her stomach. She didn't bother with the smaller ones, they seemed to be all right and in no need for bandaging.

Lucy took the roll of white gauze she had lying on a shelf and began covering the burn around her stomach in it, wrapping it around her stomach. Although with much difficulty. She finally managed to get it done and then proceeded to put on all of her clothes, which were a long-sleeved, blue shirt with a deep neckline hovering just above her bra, a white miniskirt with black leggings underneath. It covered all it needed to, without being too obvious about it. Exactly how she liked it.

She pulled her hair out of the towel and let the messy, golden tresses fall around her face. She grabbed her brush and began moving out of the bathroom, where she expected her fridge to be completely empty.

She walked to the kitchen, while pulling the brush through her hair, and watched as Natsu was happily devouring a flaming meal and Happy had taken one of the fish she had lying around specially for that little cat.

The blonde smiled and landed on the chair opposite of Natsu's, watching as he sucked in all the flames like that was the most normal thing in the world. "Hope you enjoy." She said and giggled at the eager smiles on their faces.

Happy nodded quickly. "Aye sir! This fish is delicious!" He reassured the Celestial mage with a paw up in a salute, before he once again dove down in his fish.

Natsu also nodded, lighting up another match and sucking its flames in without another thought. "These matches are awesome, Luce! Where did you get them?!" He asked her, his hands landing on the table with a slam as he looked expectantly at his partner with his big, onyx eyes.

Lucy smiled at him. With that expression, he looked like a child stuck in a grown man's body. It was hilariously contradicting, and so incredibly 'Natsu'. "Just at the local supermarket, Natsu, they're really nothing special." She told him and put the brush on the table, having finished brushing her hair. And they really weren't. But exactly because she knew Natsu loved them, she always had at least two packs lying around.

Natsu turned to Happy, who had also finished his fish now, and pumped a fist in the air. "Let's go Happy! We have to get these matches!" The childish adult said loudly. He was getting fired up just at the thought of eating them as much as he wanted and had already pushed the chair back when he suddenly shot up.

Happy nodded in agreement and spread his wings. "AYE SIR!" He exclaimed loudly, following Natsu as the Fire Dragon Slayer strode towards the door, hoping that he would also get a few fish as well.

Lucy got up from her chair and held out a hand towards her two guild mates, who were now leaving her house. "Wait, you guys! It's closed now!" She told them. The clock was 10 pm already and the supermarket closed early, or at least the one they wanted to go to.

But she was already too late, the two buddies had already left the building, but even if she'd been within hearing range, the likelihood of those two having heard her over the rush of their excitement was little anyway.

She sighed and shook her head with a smile. "Those boys." She whispered. They never changed, no matter how long she would know them.

Wait… Natsu probably planned to stay overnight, but he'd probably notice if she suddenly disappeared out of the blue. Now, while they were gone, she had the perfect chance. It was a good thing she'd eaten back at the guild a few hours ago.

Lucy quickly put the dishes and what else her partner and his best friend had used in the sink, and then quickly jumped under the covers finding a comfortable position instantly and closing her eyes, emptying her mind and giving in to sleep.

Natsu grumbled as he walked back down towards Lucy's house. He had remembered halfway that the market would be closed by now. So, with drooping eyes and mouths, Natsu and his best friend returned to their partner's place.

Natsu turned to Happy with a grin as he stopped up at the foot of her home. "Come on Happy, let's take the window!" He said eagerly, looking up at the still open window right next to the girl's pink-covered bed.

Happy saluted with a big smile. "Aye sir!" He agreed, before taking a hold of Natsu's vest and flying up to the windows and placing him on the windowsill, giving him the opportunity to crawl in before following him in.

But right before Natsu got even the first foot inside, a bright light appeared from the bed. His gaze quickly flicked there, to see the faint profile of the blonde woman whose house he had broken into many times before. But just then, she disappeared with the golden light, leaving both Natsu and Happy dumbfounded and alone.

"Luce…?"

 **Earth, Teiko middle-school~**

Lucy blinked drowsily, her sight still blurry after sleeping. She reached up and rubbed her eyes, blinking a little once again, clearing her vision the best she could.

She pushed herself up with her elbows, suddenly noticing what she had been lying on wasn't the softness of her bed and covers. She shook her head gently, attempting to get rid of the disorientation and general dizziness of waking up somewhere else. She was lying on a plain wooden bench, but one without any kind of backrest.

She looked up and around and immediately recognized her surroundings. She was in the gym she had been in the other day, where the.. What was it now? Basketball-team had been training and the sweet, pinkette, Momoi, had helped her learn about basketball, or at least a bit of it.

There as one big difference with it all from the other day though. The place was completely empty, spare herself and the lone ball lying in the middle of the court. So she was back again, was she?

She turned all around, just to confirm that there really weren't anyone there. With a sigh, she found that to be true. If the gym was empty now, were they still on the way? Or were they already done?

Whatever it'd be, she decided to just stay there. Also because she was sure to get lost if she attempted to find anything outside. She might know what she needed about Earth, but that didn't mean also being able to find around in big cities like this one.

So, now she had to kill some time, at least until she found out whether they would actually appear or not. If not, she might go on an adventure in their school. But until she made her decision, what would she do?

Her gaze fell on the single, orange ball lying in the middle of the court. It almost felt like the thing was calling to her, asking her to come pick it up and play with it.

And of course, who was she to deny its wishes?

She got up from where she had been sitting, stretching her arms above her head as she cracked her now sore back from lying on that bench. She kind of hoped that next time, she wouldn't wake up on that bench, it was an uncomfortable one.

She walked to the ball and gingerly picked it up with both hands, almost as if she was afraid it would break if she wasn't careful with it. As she found out, that wasn't the case at all. Even if she pushed at it, putting quite a lot of muscle into it, the ball wasn't anything near breaking. The texture of the ball wasn't what she had expected. It was rugged, but in a rubber kind of way. The black lines were smooth and even, and another kind of rubber it seemed.

She balanced the big ball in one hand, before throwing it to the other. It easily flew through the air, as if it hadn't done anything else since being produced. And it probably hardly had.

Lucy thought back to what she had seen those boys do the day before. They'd been playing with the ball, pushing it into the ground before shooting it into… What was it now? The hoop? Yeah, she was sure that was what it was called.

She played the ball between her hands for a little while, trying to get a feel of it. Slowly, she turned her hand around and pushed the ball into the ground. Much to her surprise, it bounced back up with a much greater force than what she had expected. She squeaked and moved back as the ball flew way above her, seeming to float in the air before falling back down. With a resounding echo, the ball hit the floor again and bounced up again, this time not quite as high up in the air.

As Lucy kept moving backwards, the ball landed right in her arms, finally calmed down and lay in her arms. She hadn't expected the ball to be so bouncy. Obviously, she had used too much force with pushing the ball down, so now she would just have to be gentler, right?

The blonde didn't notice the black-haired figure suddenly appearing at the entrance, with a big shoulder-bag containing his training-clothes and another smaller one for the school.

Nijimura stopped up when he realized someone were in the gym already. He'd thought he'd be the first one - he always was - but especially now, since the teacher had ended the class a little earlier than usual. He had planned on setting things up, bringing the balls in and maybe even get a little training done by himself.

But much to his surprise, someone was there, not someone the basketball team in there, as he had first assumed, though. No, instead there, in the middle of the court, stood the pretty, blonde girl Akashi had suddenly brought with him from the tool-room the other day. Once again, it hit him just how pretty she was, with big, curious, chocolate eyes.

She was holding one of the basketballs, seemingly trying to figure out how the thing worked. He smiled. She almost looked like it was the first time in her life she saw a ball like that, the way she was handling it as if it could break if she wasn't careful.

Then she turned her hand around and pushed the ball into the ground with much more force than what was necessary, he could already see what was about to happen. The ball flew back up, hovering high in the air, before falling back again, right towards the blonde who had attempted at dribbling with it.

Without a second thought, Nijimura threw his bags away from him and ran forward, towards the girl, who wasn't moving away from her spot. As if everything turned into slow motion, the boy could only watch as the ball fell down towards the girl.

Lucy watched as the ball continued to fall down. And she had no idea why she didn't move. When the ball was almost right above her, she clenched her eyes shut, and braced herself for the ball to hit. And not even a second later, she heard the sound of the ball hitting something, but she didn't feel any pain.

"Phew." An unfamiliar voice said, sounding like it was right next to her. She cracked an eye open and saw her rescuer standing with the ball in one hand over her head. "That was close. Are you okay?" The black-haired boy she recognized as the basketball captain, Nijimura, asked her with a smile as he withdrew his arm, holding the ball.

Lucy looked up at the boy, who was probably about three years younger than her, and who had caught her in that embarrassing moment. Mavis, she was a mage, why in the world was she afraid of a single ball like that? She'd been in _far_ worse situations many times before, just what the heck happened right there?

She quickly felt a blush spread across her cheeks faster than she'd thought possible. Nonetheless, she smiled at the boy and nodded. "Yeah… Thank you." She said. Still the feeling of embarrassment didn't leave her. Of course it didn't.

The captain quickly his the blush, which spread out on his cheeks at the sight of the girl in front of him blushing, turning his head a little to the side. "So… Were you playing basketball?" He asked her awkwardly, as he took a step away, realizing just _how_ close he was to her.

Lucy's lips turned upward, before she began giggling. "More like trying and failing." She said and smiled. "It's embarrassing, but I know nothing about basketball at all." She scratched the back of her head. "As I'm sure you noticed." She said with a much lower voice.

She didn't know about basket? And she was one of Akashi's friends? Well, maybe they just didn't know each other so well yet. He shook his head and smiled. "Nah, it's not so bad." He said. He found it a little funny though, but of course he wouldn't tell her that. "It's easy enough when you know what to do." He told her and began lightly dribbling the ball. "You were trying to dribble with the ball, right?" He asked her.

Lucy nodded. She assumed that 'dribbling' was making the ball bounce the way he was doing with it now. "Yeah, that was it." She said, once again feeling slightly embarrassed she couldn't do something, which seemed so easy to the guy in front of her.

Nijimura smiled and caught the ball in one hand, giving it to the blonde in front of him. "You put way too much force into the ball before." He told her as she accepted it, holding it in her small hands while she listened to what he had to say. "Just dropping it almost makes it fly back up." He told her and gestured for her to try.

Just dropping it? Was that really all there was needed? She nodded and dropped the ball, doing as the player had said. And right as her were, the ball bounced back up to her knees and then down again. "Oh." She said and giggled as she picked it up again. "I didn't know it was so simple." She admitted, trying to dribble with the ball just as he had, after a few tries, she got the hang of it.

The guy nodded with a smile. This girl was a surprisingly fast learner, she already looked like she had been dribbling with that ball for years. "See? It's not too hard, right?" He asked her, to which she nodded with a smile. A light pink spread over his cheeks, but he tried to ignore it and act as if it didn't actually happen. "Try with your left hand." He said.

Lucy nodded and switched hands, finding it a little bit more difficult to use her other hand. But soon enough she got it under control again easily dribbling with the left too. "Wow, it's really this simple?" She asked rhetorically.

Nijimura nodded. "Yeah, told you so, didn't I?" He asked her, noticing the weird pink mark on her hand, but deciding not to ask for now. Was it a tattoo? "Try switching between hands with every dribble." He said. He was curious to find out just how easily she would master the crossover dribbling. It wasn't hard once you learned it, but it was more the process of learning it.

Lucy was a little confused for a moment, before letting the ball bounce into the floor, then used the other hand to push it down again, switching her hands in front of her every time, the ball never leaving from the straight line it was bouncing in. "Like this?" He asked him.

He shook his head. "No, more like passing the ball to the other hand. Let it bounce in a V-shape." He told her, spreading his arms out a little and showing her what he meant.

The blonde girl nodded and tried doing what he told her. "Okay." She said and then broadened the width of the dribbling. While the ball continued to hit the same space it bounced in that V-shape, from one hand to another and back again. "Is this right?" She asked him.

Nijimura nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly it." He told her. How could she do it so easily? When he started he used at least a half day on having such a handling of the ball, as she seemed to have right of the bat. He didn't even think anyone could do anything like that so quickly.

Lucy smiled and laughed. "You were, right, it really weren't so hard after all." She agreed. It was surprisingly easy, actually.

That was when a second player of the team, the newest addition, appeared in the entrance, his spiky whitish gray hair pointing out in every direction possible and his dark gray eyes boring holes into the two in the middle of the court. Although he could only see the captain. "Oi! Captain! Just what the hell are you doing?" He yelled after the black-haired 2nd year playing ball with whoever it was.

Nijimura turned around with surprise and saw their newest member, Shogo Haizaki standing with his bag slung over his shoulder and glaring at him. "Oh, so you're here, Haizaki? What do you want?" He asked him. He hadn't gotten the best impression of the guy the day before, he'd come a half an hour too late and then he'd been quite rude to all of them. And he just had such an annoying smirk all the time, it really ticked him off.

Haizaki grunted and began walking forward. "What the hell do you think? I came here to train." He stated as that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Who's that with you?" He finally asked, still no able to see much more than yellowish hair.

The captain narrowed his eyes as he weighed his decisions. He did not like Haizaki and he wasn't sure he wanted Lucy and this guy to meet. He didn't know what this white-haired bastard would do.

But before he came to a conclusion, Lucy jumped out from behind him, her hand stretched out for a shake. "Hello! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but everyone just calls me Lucy! Are you new, I don't remember seeing you yesterday?" She asked. She was pretty sure she would remember it if she saw someone with that kind of light gray hair.

The newest member of the basketball club looked at the girl, the hand and at last with a grin, he looked up at her face again and shook her hand. "That's right. Just came yesterday. Name's Shogo Haizaki, pleasure to meet ya." He greeted, then looked up at his captain, who was glaring at him. "Nice catch, Captain." He said. "Now let's see how long it'll take me to steal her away." He laughed, turned around and walked towards the changing rooms.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she watched the young boy's profile disappearing around a corner. "What was that about?" She asked obliviously.

Nijimura gritted his teeth in anger at the new member of the club. Of course he knew what the kid had implied, although he had his facts mixed up, it still pissed him off. Not only because he was possibly threatening him, the captain, but also because he had played Lucy off as someone who'd switch to Haizaki so easily. Nijimura doubted she was that kind of person.

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He said and sighed lowly. He didn't know what that guy was thinking, what he was planning, but no matter what it was, he wouldn't let him.

Lucy turned her confused expression to the black-haired boy next to her. "Are you sure? It seemed like something that mattered." She commented and turned to him fully. "You can tell me, you know." She said and smiled a little smile.

Nijimura couldn't do anything but smile back when she flashed him such a contagious smile. "Well, it's simply because he is incredibly rude to everyone around him, even if we are his upperclassmen." He commented, not even realizing he'd said it before he had.

Lucy looked towards the place where the guy Nijimura was talking about had left and disappeared to. "I'm sure it's just his way to communicate with people. Maybe even his only way." She said, thinking back on Gajeel. If he wasn't rude, she didn't know what he was. But somewhere inside that black-haired Iron Dragon Slayer he was a nice person. _Deep_ inside.

The captain turned his head and looked at the blonde confusedly. "How do you-" He started out, but was cut off.

Lucy smiled and looked back at Nijimura. "I know a person similar to him." She told him. "He's been through a lot of things and so he can only communicate through insults and rude remarks. On the inside though, he's a nice guy. He doesn't want to show it, but he is." She smiled. "I'm sure Haizaki is like that too." She reassured him.

"Hmm.." He said. He really doubted Lucy was right on this one, Haizaki seemed like a thorough bastard to him. He couldn't imagine that guy having any good in him. "I'm willing to give him a chance." He said, trusting Lucy's words.

She smiled brightly at him. "Thank you, I'm sure it will help you." She reassured him. She was about to say something else, when the sound of a whole group of people approaching caught her ears.

They both turned to the entrance, where they could now see most of the team entering. Nijimura managed to keep down an annoyed sigh. "I've got to go now, see you later, Lucy." He said and raised his hand in a 'goodbye'.

Lucy smiled and waved. "Yeah, sure will, Nijimura!" She said and wondered if this time she would be staying till the end of their training.

The sixth sense she didn't know she had, kicked in and her eyes travelled to the entrance, where she saw a certain redhead along with the other first years entered the gym.

The memory of how their conversation had ended the other day rushed over them, and while Lucy looked at Akashi with a softened gaze, the redhead bowed his head in acknowledgement of her presence and to get a chance to avert his gaze. It was shameful what he'd done, he'd made her worry about him, for no reason, and then he'd cried.

Lucy quickly realized what was going on with the younger boy, but before she could do anything, she was tackled by a head of pink hair. "Lucy! You're back!" She said as she forced the older blonde on the floor as she threw her weight at her.

Lucy puffed a breath of air out as her butt hit the ground, but giggled at the much smaller arms, which had locked around her waist. "Wow, well hello there, Momoi." She laughed, her arms landing on the girls back. "Of course I'm back, wouldn't want to miss it for anything in the world." She reassured her newfound friend.

Momoi crawled back and smiled brightly at her. "I'm glad to hear it!" She said excitedly, not moving from her spot on Lucy's lap, having forgotten she was actually sitting there.

And how it would look to a whole team of boys.

While someone was catcalling in the background, Aomine grunted in exasperation and picked Momoi up by her collar, as if she was a kitten, turning her to face him. "Be more aware of your surroundings, idiot!" He scolded her.

Momoi glared at him and pouted, crossing her arms under her already somewhat healthy chest. "I'm not stupid!" She told him.

"Yes, you are." The blue-haired boy deadpanned. He turned his attention away from his childhood friend and down to the blonde, offering a hand. "Need help?" He asked her with a grin.

Lucy smiled up at him and nodded, taking his offer and got herself up from the floor, brushing herself off. "Thank you, Aomine." She thanked him. Such a nice kid. Who was so much taller than her. Was she small or were these guys crazy tall? She remembered being taller than most guys her age when she was 13. Only Akashi and Momoi were smaller than her. It unsettled her a bit.

He smiled brightly, kind of similar to how Natsu smiled. "No problem, Lucy!" He said and saw the rest of his team had already left without him. He looked back down at the blonde. "I have to go, going to stay here all throughout training?" He asked her curiously. He was sure she was there to see Akashi, why else would she be here?

Lucy nodded. "That's the plan." She confirmed. Judging by the reaction Akashi had had when their eyes met, they needed to talk about what had happened.

Aomine grinned. "Awesome, see you then!" He said and ran off after his friends, getting ready for the training to begin. There was something about the blonde he just liked, she seemed awesome. He didn't wait for said blonde's response, before disappearing around the corner.

Momoi smiled after her childhood friend, happy that he'd found someone else to care for besides her. Or would in the future, when they all got to know her better.

She turned to Lucy and beamed at her. "What do you say we start the lecture?" She asked the older girl, getting excited at the prospect of it already.

 **Aand, yeah. Ending it off here. I'm afraid the chapter might become a little long if I continued on from here, and honestly I want to keep the chapters around 5000, at least the best I can. So… Yeah. Seems like a nice length. Not too long and not too short. Something you can easily (even for people, like me, who's incredibly slow readers) read before going to sleep, if you don't care when you do.**

 **So that's all well and good. Now to figure out what will happen next time ^_^ And yeah, I might have forgotten to mention that while Lucy will have a big meaning for the Miracles, canon-wise, it won't change much, you'll see why though. Just thought that was valuable information. And as you know, Loke is the newest Spirit of Lucy's, so the Oración Seis arc hasn't happened yet. I'm gonna add that, to some extent. Not going to write the whole thing, since this story is really more focused on what will happen at Earth and not so much at Earthland. I will mention it, when something like the day - isn't it only a day they use? - they beat that dark guild, but I probably won't write the whole thing out. I'm planning on keeping this story somewhat short. Somewhat. But yeah, enough spoilers for one day, don't you think? XD**

 **Thank you to all of you, who's been reading, favoriting, following and reviewing! Hope it was to your liking!**

 **~ Line464d**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **I was worried I wouldn't even get to upload this thing in time, I had this huge project I needed done. But praise the lord we all - we were a group - got it all done before it was too late!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Slowpoke and Abra have been plotting against me and used Abra's teleport to.. You know… Teleport to another world. Where they now peacefully are writing their stories. But I swear. I will find them. And I will bring pokéballs :3**

 **Earth~**

Haizaki pushed his locker closed, turned around and leaned against it with crossed arms, looking down at his captain. "Okay. I need to know how you scored that blonde girl, Captain." He said, his attention on the black haired boy a year older than himself.

Nijimura turned around as well, facing their newest member, giving him a glare. "I've only known her for a day moron. I haven't 'scored' her." He told the younger boy. He really deeply disliked their new player. And something told him it wouldn't be changing anytime soon. Even if he gave him a chance

The gray-haired boy snorted a laugh. "Figured as much." He said, smirking. "Someone like you can't score someone like her." He told him. His smirk grew wider. "Then that means she's fair game." He mused as he went towards the door.

That was when Akashi's patience with their conversation ran out. He slammed his locker closed right in front of himself, without flinching at all, but continuing to stare right at the metal box holding his belongings. "Watch what you're saying, Haizaki." He said, almost snarling his name.

Said man looked over his shoulder at the redhead. "What? Is she yours?" He asked. That seemed even less likely to him. He knew nothing about him, but he didn't seem like the type to care. For anyone.

Akashi turned around and looked at the light gray-haired guy with irritation flashing in his mismatched eyes. "She's a friend." He said. He knew calling her a friend already was ridiculous, he didn't even consider Midorima his friend. But considering the revelation he given her the other day was the kind of revelation you only gave to people you were friends with, what else was he supposed to call her?

Haizaki looked at him with raised eyebrows and yet another snort. "Which means, she's still fair game." He clarified. Honestly, he couldn't care less about that blonde chick, pissing these guys off was way more entertaining than she could ever be. And made all the other things, such as actually dealing with girls, worthwhile.

Akashi narrowed his eyes at the guy, daring him to go against his words. He swore, if that light-haired moron did anything to Lucy, he would- That was where he cut himself off, instead wondering where all this was coming from. Did he really care for Lucy? After two days? It seemed impossible.

Haizaki shrugged. "You can send me those eyes all you want, Akashi, it won't change a thing." He said and went out with a simple wave.

After a short moment, Akashi followed after. Nijimura finished up quickly and caught up to the smaller redhead. "Don't let him get to you." He told him.

Akashi looked at the captain walking next to him. "I'm not too worried." He told him and looked forward again, where they could now see the court. "I don't think Lucy would care for someone like him." He said and stepped out onto the court, which had been made ready for them.

Nijimura looked around, realizing all the things he had planned to bring out before finding out Lucy was there, had been put out for them. "The girls must have done this." He muttered as he looked up to where Momoi was currently teaching Lucy about basketball.

"So, where did we leave off last time?" Momoi asked the blonde girl in front of her, the both of them having gone upstairs after getting all the materials needed for the boys' training out, since Nijimura didn't get the chance to.

Lucy tapped her chin, thinking back to when she had been here last. "Hmm, I think it was about scoring." She said. "Something about three-pointers from behind the semicircle and inside two points." She looked at the pink-haired girl. "Right?"

Momoi nodded. "Yeah, one point for free throws and two for rebounds, you remember those too, right?" She asked the blonde, hearing the boys being set to run laps on the court for warmup in the background.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Yep, I remember." She said affirmatively. Surprisingly, she did. Also how the court was build up, with the free-throw lines, the three-point arc and the mid-court line. It all seemed to come back, although it wasn't much.

Momoi smiled. "Awesome!" She said. She took that as she did well in teaching Lucy about basketball. "So… What about I talk about positions on the court today?" She asked her blonde friend.

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Yeah, sounds good to me." She agreed. She hadn't even known there were specific positions for people on the court. But she guessed it made it a bit more organized, somehow.

The pinkette clapped her hands together excitedly with a little jump. "Okay. I don't remember if I said this last, but at a game, you can bring 12 people in all, while only 5 can be on the court at once." She explained. "So, that's why there are five different positions on the court." She said and turned to the whiteboard, pulling off the cap for the red marker. "First, there's the Point Guard." She said and drew a dot in line with the hop, but outside the three-point arc. "He's usually the team's best handler and passer. Other than that, they also guide the team through assists, where they help others score, like.. Passing the ball at the right moment to help one of the others scoring a ball. They also guide the team through steals, with other words, taking the ball while the opposing team is holding it." She explained. "They are often pretty good at scoring three-pointers, but it completely depends on the player's own ablilities." Momoi tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm.. What else…" She muttered. "Oh yeah, they study the game to see weaknesses and strengths of both teams and exploit them however he can. When people talk about a Point Guard, they'll sometimes call them play-makers or floor generals." She told her, lifting a finger into the air.

Lucy nodded slowly as she took everything in the best she could. "Well, that's a lot to swallow at once…" She said and thought about how that was only one of five. She looked at the board, then back at the pinkette. "So, who on the team down there is the Point Guard?" She asked her.

Momoi smiled at her. "Akashi-kun, actually." She told Lucy. "We haven't been in any games yet, but that's the position, which seems most fitting for him. He's a real tactical genius, I'm sure you know that though, and has a great overview of any situation possible on the court. Or so it seems anyway." She explained.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully. She knew Akashi was clever, he just seemed like that kind of type, really, but she hadn't thought he was as clever as Momoi seemed to be implying he was. A genius. She had a feeling she had a lot to learn about all these boys.

Momoi clapped her hands together eagerly. "Okay, ready for next position?" She asked. When Lucy nodded, she smiled. "Okay, next position is the Shooting Guard." She said and drew a dot outside the three-point arc to the left of the Point Guard. "Shooting Guards are usually the best one on the team to shoot three-pointers, but otherwise they are also good at handling the ball, drive it to the net and shooting right after dribbling." She glanced at the board before resuming. "Oh, and the most versatile Shooting Guard will have good passing skills, giving him the ability to could actually take the Point Guard's responsibilities, if the situation calls for it." She said.

Lucy nodded. Not as much on the Shooting Guard as there was on the Point Guard, that was a relief. "So, who's…?" She trailed off, knowing Momoi would get what she meant to say.

Momoi smiled. "Midorin mainly from now on, but last year it was Kubota-kun. He's a third year and has long, black hair. Actually it's a wonder he can even see anything through it." She said, mostly to herself. "Anyway, Midorin's _really_ good at shooting three-pointers. You might even say it's a talent!" She told her.

Lucy nodded. "I see." She said, noting them all of in her head, so she could write it down when she returned to Earthland. So, Midorima was Shooting Guard and Akashi Point Guard, and then Kubota, he was a Shooting Guard too. Although since he was a third year, he'd have to go out after this school year had ended.. Well she didn't even know how long she'd be with these guys, she could only guess. She looked up at the pinkette in front of her. "Okay, what about the third position?" She asked, feeling ready for the next one.

Momoi smiled and nodded. "Okay, the next is the Small Forward." She said and drew a dot almost at the net, within the three-point arc, but right outside the vertical lines leading up to the little circle. "The Small Forward is the most flexible among all of the players on the field and that flexibility is the key to being a Small Forward. That position resembles two other, the Shooting Guard and the Power Forward, which I'll explain afterwards." She said and did a little, dismissive wave in front of her face. "But it is more often the same as the Shooting Guard's. So, those two positions are often interchangeable and instead many just calls them the 'Wings'." She explained. "The Small Forwards are quick. They commonly draw fouls by attempting plays, lay-ups or slam dunks, risky moves with other words." She paused as she thought of what else to say. "Yeah, that's probably about it." She said and smiled. "The team currently has one Small Forward, and it's Sekiguchi-kun, the one with the whitish hair." She said. "I think Haizaki's specialty is also as a Small Forward, though…" She mumbled.

Lucy nodded, also noting that off. She quickly realized how many things she would be needing to write down whenever she got home.

Momoi smiled. "Up for the next one too?" She asked her. Lucy nodded again. "Okay, the Power Forward." She said and drew a dot almost parallel to the Small Forward on the field, underneath the Shooting Guard within the three-point arc. "Power Forwards play an important role on the court. They are usually the most versatile traveler on the team, being able to score both close to the basket and using jumps from four to six meters from the basket. They have to be strong enough to guard big opponents near the basket and have athleticism to guard quick players away from the basket. Their role is kind of similar to that of the center." She explained. "Our Power Forwards are Captain-kun and Dai-chan." She said and crunched her face up a bit in thought. "I guess… Usually the ace is a Power Forward, and yet not really." She said. "They need to be strong players, though." She agreed with herself.

Lucy smiled. "I think I get what you mean." It was like the leader of a team back in her world. The leader was usually the strongest, like Erza in her own team, but then there was also Levy's team. She wasn't the strongest battle-wise, Lucy was pretty sure Droy was the strongest on their team, but she wasn't weak. She had the 'strongest' brain she'd ever seen. "Okay, so the last one?" She asked.

The pinkette smiled. "It's the Center." She said and drew a circle to the right, halfway up the line to the little circle, above the Small Forward. "The center usually plays near the baseline, close to the basket and are often the tallest player on the court. They mostly score near the basket, but a few also have good perimeter shots. When they are really good perimeter shooter, they are called 'stretch bigs'. Typically, they are skilled at taking rebounds, contesting shots and putting up screens." Momoi tilted her head a little. "Some say it's the most important position on the court." She said thoughtfully.

Lucy smiled. "Really? Isn't it a bit.. Well… Wrong to say it's the 'most important'?" She asked. "Doesn't it make it seem like the other positions aren't important at all. Or is it just me overthinking things?" She asked the younger girl.

Momoi shook her head. "No, I agree, Lucy-chan." She said, not even noticing she gave Lucy a suffix, which only made the blonde smile wider. She didn't mind that, she quite liked it actually. "Actually, mostly the positions don't mean a thing, it's more for the fans and broadcasters. It's just a general placement of players, really. It changes all the time anyway." She said. "Every player's equally important." She beamed. And that was what she honestly thought.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah." Once again, she could draw lines to her own experiences with her team. Every person in a team was important for one or the other reason. She could only imagine it'd be the same for a basketball team. "So, what else do you want to teach me?" She asked her second pink-haired friend.

Momoi hummed in thought. Her attention was drawn to the court, where she heard the balls dribbling against the wooden floor. They seemed to have gone on to practicing their shots.

She tapped her chin lightly in though. "I think it'll be better if we just watch and I explain whatever new comes up." She suggested. She sent Lucy a smile and an expression, which asked the blonde what she thought of the idea.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." She agreed. It seemed like a clever plan. Besides, getting some visual confirmation on how the things were done, would be nice for a change. And Momoi couldn't remember everything, as much as she had remembered on the top of her head was impressive enough, expecting her to remember more would be unfair.

They exchanged a smile as they went to the railing of the balcony, looking down on the boys playing underneath them.

The players were standing in line from the mid-court line, waiting for the coach to blow in his whistle, sending them off to shoot at the hoop on the other end of the court.

Lucy watched as the first one set off after the sound of the whistle. He set off the ground, dribbling at a fast pace to the three-point arc, before using his momentum to jump as high as he could, lifting his hands over his head as he let the ball fly into the board behind the hoop, then directly down through it.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. "Are they practicing their three-point shots?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if her assumption really was right.

Momoi smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's right!" She said and looked down at the court again. "Normally you wouldn't go solo like that in basketball, you play the ball around until you find or create an opening, and then exploit it. But sometimes, the situation calls for it, and it's the best thing to do. It's not often though." She explained.

Lucy nodded again, doing her best to absorb everything she was being taught and had been taught. She was feeling like she was gradually getting a grip on what basketball was, and through that, who Akashi and the others really were. Or at least a part of them.

She smiled gently down at them. Seeing it all from above like this, it was obvious to her they all loved the game. The way they were standing there in line, impatiently pushing the ball into the floor and jumped or the like where they stood, waiting for it to be their turn to attempt the shot at the net, it all showed it bright and clear. It was like watching Fairy Tail during one of their infamous brawls. Whether they were participating in it or not, everyone always smiled and laughed. Especially when her two best male friends were throwing insults at each other. It showed in their eyes, both in Fairy Tail's and these boys, even if they were exhausted or focused, there was a happy gleam in their eyes.

Momoi looked up at the older blonde woman, seeing her gentle smile aimed at the boys practicing on the court. "What are you smiling about, Lucy-chan?" The pinkette asked her.

Lucy turned her attention to Momoi, realizing she had probably been spacing off a bit. "Oh, it's just.." She trailed off, looking down at the court again. "They all remind me of some friends of mine, back from where I come from." She told her.

Momoi smiled a little and looked down on the boys as well. "Do you miss them?" She asked Lucy. "Your friends I mean." She clarified.

The blonde tilted her head a little, trying to imagine how it would be like being separated from Fairy Tail. She would miss them more than words could describe. She closed her eyes and nodded, getting sad just thinking about the prospect of not being able to see them all whenever she wanted to. "Yeah, I miss them. A lot." She said. She couldn't even imagine her daily life without everyone she loved.

The pinkette's smile wavered a little. Would Lucy leave them? After they'd just met? "Y-yeah… Of course you would." She muttered, primarily to herself. She didn't want Lucy to leave already, not now when she was getting to know her a little. She seemed so, _so_ nice. And she really needed a girl to talk to, who also knew the basketball team personally. Her other friends at the school didn't know them at all, just thought some of them looked handsome or something.

Lucy looked at Momoi from the corner of her eye, giggling at the younger girl's expression. "Don't worry, Momoi. I won't leave you guys anytime soon, not if I have a say in it myself." She reassured the pinkette. She was curious about these guys, Earth, and why she was even here. So if she had any say in it at all, she wouldn't be leaving, or well… Not returning. At least until she had it all figured out.

Momoi lit up and beamed at the blonde. "I believe you. And I'm glad you're staying!" She said, feeling relief flooding through her.

Lucy smiled warmly at the other girl. She didn't expect the girl to care so much already, but she was happy she did. She really liked her, and all the others too.

They both let the silence fall upon them as they watched the boys train, small-talking a bit, and Lucy learning what a drive and many other basketball terms and tricks were. With the addition of seeing the things unfold instead of just being told made it much easier for her to understand and probably also remember in the long run.

She had also learned every single player on that team were skilled at basketball, exceptional even. Especially the first years; Akashi, Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara and Haizaki. She'd been told their skill-level was almost surreal. And while she didn't know basketball or the general skill-level of people their age, she could see they were at the very least on par with the older players.

According to Momoi, Aomine had been growing up with street-basket, which was a showy way of playing the game. Compared to the other players' style, his was much more loose and kind of free, if you could even say that.

Murasakibara was very direct and liked to go solo when scoring. He held immense power, as it seemed, since he constantly made dunks, where he slammed the ball into the net. Not only that, but because of his height, he was also really good at protecting the net and saving balls. On the other hand, he wasn't the best out there at team-play.

Midorima was undoubtedly a sharpshooter. His three-pointers never, and it really was never, missed. It was like the balls he shot were drawn with a magnetic force of some kind. Generally, he was just fantastic at scoring.

Haizaki was good at a lot of different things, but he didn't really _excel_ on some points the same way the others did. Or maybe it just wasn't so apparent. But no matter what it was, taking him lightly would be unwise though. While he didn't particularly have a strong point, he didn't have a weak one either. He was rough on the court and would probably draw a lot of fouls. Both for the opponents and himself.

Akashi's style of playing was… Different than the others'. Not only because he wasn't quite as tall as them all, and had to figure out how he could play with that quite big disadvantage, but also because his mindset seemed to be completely different from theirs. It was like it was all a game to him, where he could move with the pieces however he wanted. On top of that, he was also good at basketball, of course, and could easily land a score.

Nijimura still outshone them all though, as a captain and someone a year older than them all, he kind of had to. In a way. He was kind of like Aomine, since the both of them also played the same position as Power Forwards. He was good at scoring the ball within the three-point arc, using drives, but that was only his specialty. He could also score from behind the arc. And in the small play-games they held for training, it was clear his team was winning, with the way he could spur them on and assist them, although that was more of the Point Guard's job. She guessed that since he was captain, it was also his job to help them through that though.

Training had just ended and Momoi had followed the boys with a wave and a smile to the blonde. Lucy returned the gesture, then decided to sit down on the bottom of the stairs and wait for them to be done, so she could have that conversation with Akashi and apologize to him. She had probably stepped over the boundaries of what the red-haired boy was comfortable with. And she needed to apologize for that.

While she waited, she pulled her keys out and began fidgeting with the cold metal and going off into dreamland, getting caught up in her thoughts. Natsu… She had probably disappeared while he was running towards that shop… What would he think if he returned and she wasn't anywhere near there? She blanched when she realized her scent would probably just stop from there. Seriously, what would he think and do?

She glanced down at her keys, considering whether she should ask one of her Spirits if they could explain the circumstances to him. But on the other hand, that was a stupid move… If anyone, she should explain it herself. That was the only right thing to do. She just hoped he hadn't turned the whole city upside down in his search for her…

She gently griped her keys, feeling their love for her through them, and sending it right back at them. She had no idea what she would do without all of them. They really saved her many more times than she could count. Loke did just the other night, as a matter of fact. And she had a feeling that he, and the others too, would continue to do so in the future. She hoped to one day could fight alongside them for real.

Her hand moved to her still bandaged stomach. But it all depended on her healing all up, so her training with Gajeel could begin. She had no idea what he would teach her, but hoped it'd be something with which she could fight opponents with her Spirits, without having to rely on them too much. Maybe through her whip, but she had already mastered that pretty well… Well, whatever he decided on, she was sure she'd get stronger.

All she needed to do now was heal. Did it help the process when she teleported here? Was it like another full day of healing? Or did it slow it down?

While the blonde was considering all these things, she didn't notice the elder man standing at the entrance, looking at her with wide eyes and tense shoulders. He recognized what the girl was playing with in her hands. Way too well actually. And her face… Most of all.

The gray-haired man took quick strides towards the girl, stopping up in front of her. "Excuse me, miss." He said, drawing the blonde's attention.

Lucy's head whipped up when she heard and unfamiliar voice talking to her. She looked up at the man in surprise, before jolting to her feet. Somehow she knew he was important. "Yes, sir?" She asked politely.

The man was too shocked with what she was holding in her hands to take note of the polite way of speaking. "Tell me, where did you get those keys, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked, trying not to sound like he was attacking her or blaming her for something.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at him, then glanced down at her keys, and back up at him again, now with a fond smile. "No, I don't mind at all." She said. "It's something I've been collecting ever since my mother gave me hers, after she told me she had been collecting them and wanted me to continue on." She told him. It wasn't entirely a lie. But it wasn't entirely the truth either.

The man sighed, realizing that of course she wouldn't have told him what they really were. Why in the world would she? "I see. I apologize for my rudeness, I am Kozo Shirogane, and who might you be?" He asked her kindly.

Lucy smiled brightly at the man, while wondering what he was thinking. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia! Pleasure to meet you." She said and gave him a quick handshake. She tilted her head a little in confusion. "Say, why are you so interested in my keys?" She asked him.

Shirogane smiled at her and automatically moved his hand to his inner jacket-pocket, where the only two reminders of his past resided. "Because… I remember them." He told her, aiming for it not to be too big of a shock for her. He could imagine what it must be like.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows a little, enough for it not to seem rude, rather confused instead. "Really?" She said disbelievingly. She really doubted the man could have seen them here. She had no idea how he could have. "I'm sorry, but I really doubt it." She said and tightened her grip on her keys a little.

Shirogane only shook his head softly. "No, I'm pretty sure I've seen them before." He said and pulled his two most precious belongings out and once again got the feeling of reassurance he always got from them. He smiled as he let the blonde see the things he hardly showed to anyone else. Seeing the expression on her face, he smiled. "Do you perhaps believe me now?" He asked her.

Her eyes widened when she saw what the man was holding. It was two silver keys she had only ever heard of in myths and stories told by her mother. One's handle looked like the wings of an angel were protecting the long lost constellation mark in the middle of it, and at the end were a hollow circle, similar to the halo's angels were associated with. The other's handle were that of demon wings folded towards the similarly lost constellation, the end carried a resemblance to a trident, like the ones demons sometimes were seen carrying.

She let a hand cover her mouth in shock. "Th-these are…" She stammered, her gaze flicking from the keys to the man holding them. "The Angel and the Demon." She whispered, afraid to even say the words. Her mother had told her those two constellations had disappeared suddenly quite a few years back, making many believe they hadn't even been there from the beginning. How had they ended up here.

Shirogane nodded, unable to hold his smile back any longer. "Yes, I can hear you've learned about them." He said and glanced at her keys, noting that the majority were the rare gold keys he'd always sought after as young, before… He cut his thought off and refocused on the girl in front of him. "You seem like a clever girl, Lucy, so I'm sure you've also figured this out." He held a dramatic pause. "I'm from your world." He told her.

Lucy's breathing quickened a little. Her gaze alternated between the keys and the owner. "H-how did you end up here? What happened to the Angel and the Demon? Why are you still here? How is this possible?" She asked quickly one after another.

The elder man chuckled and closed his hands around his precious keys, placing them back where they belonged. "I will answer all your questions." He told her. "But it will have to be later." He then added. He needed time to realign himself with the thought of another from his childhood world being in his world. But he had to do that fairly quick, so the young girl knew of the consequences of one single mistake. Before she made it. Like he had. "You can come by my office any time you wish to, I'm sure Nijimura or the coach of the 1st string would gladly lead you there." He said. "Until next time, Lucy." He told her and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, completely forgetting what he had originally come for.

And he left a dumbstruck girl behind, standing on the stairs, trying to figure out what had just happened. She couldn't quite grasp the fact that she had just met another person from her own world… And seeing those two keys, said to have been only a rumor since before her Mama was even born, it was amazing. But it also made her ask herself if perhaps this Shirogane was also a Celestial mage, just like her. How had he ended up here? And why did it seem like he held so much sorrow when he spoke to her? She was confused with it all. She figured, if she appeared again the next day, she'd have a talk with him. She was almost certain he could tell her about everything which was happening with her. Or at least some of it. Maybe…. Could she get some much needed answers?

She was thrust out of her musings, when she heard the sound of several sets of shoes stepping on the wooden floor, making it creak in response. Lucy looked up to see the first years and their captain appearing at the entrance.

Nijimura seemed to be scowling at Haizaki, who was smirking back at him. Murasakibara was eating some kind of snack. Again. Momoi was beaming up at Aomine, while he walked with his hands thrown behind his head, just as she'd seen Natsu do several times, and looked like he was annoyed with her. Lucy imagined the pinkette had been teasing him. Midorima was bandaging his fingers up, while Akashi was just walking forward, his expression not really betraying any information.

Lucy smiled. She had a feeling she would quickly grow to love these young people. Or Earthlings. Besides, she was beyond used to eccentric people, and these seven didn't look like they were any different. Although on a more… Natural level than what she surrounded herself with back at home. For a moment, she wondered what they would say if they saw Natsu eating flames of Gajeel eating a fork.

Aomine felt as if someone was looking at him, and turned his head to see the blonde girl giving him and the others a weird smile. "Oi! Lucy! You comin'?" He asked her loudly.

Lucy smiled at the blue-haired kid, who grinned right back, and nodded. She quickly caught up with all of them. "So where are you all going?" She asked curiously.

Midorima turned his head and nodded his head in a greeting manner. "We're going to the outside basketball court on the street where we first met." He told her, having finished with his hands.

Lucy tilted her head and thought back to what had happened just a few days back. She didn't remember there being a court around where he was. But on the other hand she had been quite groggy back then, and she didn't know anything about anything, so she probably wouldn't have noticed the court, which she had no idea what was.

The blonde giggled. "You guys just can't get enough, can you?" She asked. Their training had just ended, and now they were going out to play again. If there had been any question before, there weren't any now, these guys loved basketball. "Why don't you just play in here, though?" She asked as Nijimura picked up a ball and began dribbling it.

Momoi's face heated up and she turned to Lucy quickly, looking past Aomine. "Oh, sorry! I forgot to mention that!" She said and lifted a finger as they all proceeded outside. "Teiko's basketball club is divided into three strings, based on the player's abilities in basketball. 3rd string is lowest and 1st string is highest." She beamed at Lucy. "Of course, these guys are part of the 1st string!" She told her excitedly.

Lucy's eyes widened. "So you guys are the best on your school?" She deduced. She hadn't even known they were divided like that. She just thought… Well, that they were all the people in the club. Obviously, she was wrong.

Nijimura nodded, looking back at her with a little smile. "Yeah. We're the ones representing the school in the grand tournaments and cups." He told her and gestured to the people around him. "And these guys are the best first years we've ever had in the story of this school." He said and turned away again, his smile turning to a smirk. "Except for Haizaki." He added.

The spiky-haired boy glared at the captain. "What's that supposed to mean, _Captain_?" He asked Nijimura, annoyed with this obvious dislike towards him.

The black-haired teen turned to Haizaki. "Simply just that you aren't as talented as these four. That's all." He commented, knowing it would rile him up.

Lucy giggled at Haizaki and Nijimura's bantering, which reminded her of Natsu and Gray's back at Earthland. It was funny they were so similar, yet from different worlds.

She grew content hearing and watching these people, who she hoped she could make her friends, as they walked to the street-court as they called it. Being with them like that only confirmed her assumption of them being eccentric, but not quite as much as Fairy Tail.

At one point, Akashi pulled a little back and fell into pace with the blonde girl and then she slowed down a little, so they got out of hearing range. He really wanted to talk to her about what had happened the other day, but he didn't know how to start. The words just wouldn't form.

"I'm sorry Akashi." She muttered, making him look up at her. She looked straight forward with a tender expression. "I get the feeling I peeked into something I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry for it." She said, turned the tender gaze to the redhead and smiled just as tenderly to him. Whatever they were building up between them, she didn't want to ruin it with a simple mistake like that.

Akashi looked wide-eyes at the woman next to him and quickly shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it's all right." He reassured her. "It's just… Not something I've shared often." He told her. "I don't know what made me tell you, and I'm sorry if it has burdened you in any way." He said earnestly.

Lucy shook her head with a smile at the younger boy. "No, no, not at all." She told him. "On the contrary, I'm glad you feel like you can talk with me and hope you will in the future if anything bothers you." She said and smiled brightly. Suddenly, she felt a light drowsy feeling fall over her and quickly realized what was about to happen. She needed to escape quickly. She faked looking at a watch and breathed in sharply. "Oh my, the clock's late, I really need to go!" She said and began running towards some buildings on the other side. "See you all later!" She said with a wave.

They all waved back at her, although a bit confused, and bid their 'see you later's, before she turned around a corner and slammer her back against the wall, slowly sliding down. She was already asleep before her butt hit the ground, and as soon as it did, she disappeared in a golden light.

 **Oohkaay, here we GO! Dayum a chapter. So, we all learned a bit more about basketball, and this will be the last lesson guys, I promise. I think.**

 **It has been revealed, Shirogane, our lovely head coach, in case you were wondering, is actually from Earthland?! And he has two silver keys too? The Angel and the Demon? Perhaps some of you recognize them?**

 **Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following~!** **A bunch too. I love ya!**

 **~Line464d**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Back at Earthland. Wonder what Natsu's doing?**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: Right as I figured out where Abra and Slowpoke were, Abra sent me a trollface of sorts and then teleported somewhere else! DAMN THEM!**

 **At Earthland~**

Lucy woke with the feeling of being enveloped in a pair of comfortably familiar, warm arms. She realized it was Natsu. He'd crawled into her bed again? Well, she wasn't really surprised.

Nevertheless, she smiled and sighed contently, keeping her eyes closed. That simple motion caused Natsu's grip to tighten around her. So much it actually hurt her a little.

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at him. Her eyes widened. "Natsu…?" She asked him carefully, eyeing his expression. He looked like he was in pain. And sadder than she'd ever seen him be. He clung to her desperately, as if she could disappear any given moment. Which she could.

She felt her best friend's form starting to shake. "Don't go…" He told her with an uncharacteristic tiny voice. Lucy could see he was fighting back sobs, but as soon as he clenched his eyes shut, a single tear slipped by his defenses. "Not you too.." He added, his sadness and pain clear as crystal in his voice.

His swirling emotions were almost palpable, and Lucy quickly recognized them, having found out what was going on with her friend. "Oh, Natsu." She whispered and managed to get her arms around him. She squeezed him comfortingly and with her freest hand, she reached up and brushed the single, warm tear off his cheek. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

He had been afraid she would disappear, just as his dragon father, Igneel, had. She figured he'd seen her disappear, and reappear again. And then, afraid she would disappear from him again, he had locked his arms around her, securing her and restricting her movements.

And it was all her fault. She should have told him before, she should have warned him. She knew he broke into her room at night, there was no doubt he would have found out within the week. She should have known. Should have known it was better to tell. Should have known Natsu would react the way he did. She knew how much the disappearance of his father had hurt him, she knew that if any of his friends, anyone in Fairy Tail, suddenly disappeared, he would go to hell and back to return them. It should have been easy for her to piece together that he would be so sad if she disappeared. She should have known…

While she beat herself up, she leaned in and rested her forehead against his tensed chest, squeezing him lightly again. "I'm not going anywhere, Natsu. I promise." She told him in a whisper. She wasn't sure what to tell him, but she knew she at least had to try to do _something_. "I won't leave you, I promise." She promised him. She wouldn't, she never would leave her friends and family, her _nakama_ , behind.

A pregnant silence ruled between them for a moment. "Promise?" She heard an almost childish whisper ask.

She smiled and looked up into her best friend's onyx, moist eyes with her own brown, just as wet eyes and nodded. "Yes, promise." She told him. She saw the relief flood his eyes, as he once again pulled her in for a hug.

Just then, she heard the sound of her door being kicked open, accompanied by two sets of footsteps, one heavy and metallic, and the other as if the person was barefoot, as well as a pair of flapping wings.

"Natsuuuu~!" The unmistakable voice of the blue cat sounded from the door. "I brought them!" He said. Lucy heard that the usual excitement he always held in his voice completely absent. Or, well... Minimal.

Lucy looked up, seeing the rest of Team Natsu appearing and looked at her with relieved expressions. She looked confusedly at all three of them, her gaze lingering on the redhead and the ravenette. "What are you doi-" She was cut off, when she was suddenly pulled forcefully out of Natsu's otherwise tight grip and her bed.

Erza pressed Lucy into her armored chest, just as she had just a pair of days ago, never letting the blonde's feet hit the ground. Although, she'd somewhat learned her lesson, and didn't squeeze the girl as tight. "Don't scare me like that, Lucy." She whispered lowly.

The slight movement of the black-haired Ice Make mage drew the blonde's attention. "You had us worried, you know." He said with a soft expression, as he kept his hands in his pockets.

Lucy felt her eyes tearing up a little at their worry. "I-I'm sorry, guys." She whispered, being replied with an 'it's all right'. She did what she could to look at all of them. "I will tell you everything, I promise, you deserve to know." She said. "But first… What are you all doing here?" She asked them, repeating the question, which had been cut off earlier.

Erza made no move to release the hold she had on Lucy, so the girl had no way of finding out how her pink-hai- no sorry, _salmon_ -haired best friend was doing. "Well, I called them." She heard the voice of said best friend tell her, behind her.

 **Right after Lucy had disappeared~**

Natsu's eyes widened, when he saw his blonde partner and best human friend disappear completely from the room, as if she'd never even been there in the first place. He sat in the window, staring at the bed for a moment, trying to swallow what had just happened.

"Natsu…" Happy said right beside him. "What happened to Lushy?" The flying cat asked him worriedly, probably also watching the bed, like the Fire Dragon Slayer was.

Natsu felt himself beginning to tremble, the grip he had on the windowsill only getting tighter and tighter with each passing second. "I don't know Happy…" He growled out through clenched teeth, feeling the anger boiling inside him.

He was sure of it, someone had taken his best friend. He knew she couldn't teleport, otherwise she would've told him. He knew she would. She wouldn't be keeping anything from him and their nakama. Someone had definitely kidnapped her. Was it a dark guild? Did they want to get under their skin? Was it all just to get Fairy Tail's attention? Maybe, was it…?

Jude. Natsu's vision almost turned red at the thought. Was it Lucy's father, who was trying to get her back again? Why couldn't that goddamn old man just give up already?! He sneered at the empty room and jumped in. "I don't know, but we'll save her." He said determinedly. No one took a dragon's family. _No one._

Happy glided in after his salmon-haired friend, watching his salmon-haired friend. His whole posture screamed tension. The blue, winged cat furrowed his eyebrows. What was Natsu thinking? Save her? Was she taken by someone? Happy only saw her disappearing, alone. He hadn't seen anyone taking her with them.

Natsu strode to the bed. He would follow her scent. He was sure someone had appeared in the room and cast an invisibility spell. Then that person took Lucy. It had to be it. She wouldn't.. She wouldn't just leave him like that.

Right?

Natsu shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He went to the bed. The one she'd disappeared from. He inhaled deeply. Only her sweet smell of vanilla and strawberry filled his nose. He closed his eyes. Focused. Trying to find the route she'd gone and the other scent he knew there had to be.

But. He found nothing. The only thing he found was Lucy's scent, its trail ending right at her bed. Where he'd seen her disappear.

His gaze softened from anger to sorrow as realization set in. Lucy had left him. Lucy had actually left him. She had abandoned him, left him to be alone. All over again. It was the same, all over again.

Natsu fell to his knees, leaning over the bed and burying his head in his arms, not taking any notice of the blue-furred cat, who was trying to get his attention.

His best friend, someone he'd let in and told his past to. She had left him again. He had let her in, he had let himself care for her. And now she was gone. Just like Lisanna. Just like his dad. His only parent had abandoned him too. When he was a little boy. When he didn't know how to take care for himself. He was thrust into the world. Without preparation.

Was he really not worth their time? Was he worthless? Useless? He had become strong, wanted to become stronger, so he was wanted. So no one would leave him because they didn't need him. Was he still not strong enough to keep the people he cared for? Would Fairy Tail, his family, abandon him just as Lucy, Lisanna and Igneel had? Would… Happy? Erza? Even that bastard, Gray?

What was he supposed to do?

To keep all the people he loved. He would do anything. Go to hell and back. Hundreds of times. Thousands. As many as it took. He would do anything for Lucy, for Lisanna, for Igneel, for everyone. But… Had he lost the chance to with the three he had loved most? Had he lost her forever.. Just as he had his father and friend?

Happy was desperately trying to calm his shaking and trembling friend down. The blue cat knew his best friend was crying. Soundlessly, but he knew he was. He couldn't remember seeing Natsu act this way before. He didn't know what was running through the Dragon Slayer's head. What thoughts he had. Suddenly, much to the cat's surprise, the mage's tensed and the trembling stopped altogether.

No. He refused to believe it. He refused to believe there was no way to get Lucy back. He wouldn't lose another person precious to him, he swore he wouldn't. Right here, he swore he would _never_ lose another person he cared for and loved. He would save her. He would _definitely_ save her.

He shot up from his kneeling position at the bed and looked around for what he was searching for. He found what he was looking for standing on the table, next to where Lucy had left her novel. That was another reassurance she hadn't left him. Lucy would never leave her novel behind. Something was wrong.

Natsu went to the little table and picked up the little, magical orb, quickly sending his magic into it, seeing the mage he wanted to call up in his head and transferring it to the Lacrima. "Erza." He called into it, seeing said mage's head with red hair appearing on the screen. Her face serious, as always.

"Natsu?" Erza asked with a slight hint of surprise in her voice. "What is it?" She asked him.

Natsu stared expressionlessly into the communication device. "Grab Gray and go to Lucy's." He ordered her. Just as she was about to comment on his demand, he cut her to it. " _Now_." He told her and turned it off.

He turned and landed on the bed he'd been lying in with her so many times already. Now it felt cold. As if it hadn't been touched for years.

He rested his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together and supporting his chin. He glared at the empty, dark room. He would find Lucy. And he would have Erza, Gray and Happy's help. They _would_ find her. They couldn't not. They were the strongest team of Fairy Tail. They never failed a mission.

Happy glanced at his friend, having sat down next to him, while the Slayer seemed to be thinking hard about something. "Natsu…" He muttered. He hadn't seen Natsu react this way before… No, that wasn't right. When Lisanna disappeared, he had acted similarly to this, but in a younger version. Now he was so much older… And it only made it hurt worse.

A hard knock sounded from the door. Natsu looked up from where he sat, and after a little second, stood up and walked to the door, opening it up to see the faces of his team. "We need to find Lucy."

 **Back to present~**

"We searched the whole night for you and didn't find you anywhere." Gray explained and looked to his pink-haired rival. "Until that guy came back here only about ten minutes ago, and found you on the bed." He added.

Happy nodded, flapping his wings once to stay airborne. "Yeah, and then I went to find Erza and Gray, and here we are!" He said, pumping a little fist in the air, in a vain attempt to liven up the atmosphere.

Lucy, having finally been let go of by the redhead, threw her arms around herself and averted her gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry guys…" She muttered. "I should have told you." And she really should. She didn't mean to do this to them.

Erza shook her head. "It doesn't matter. You can tell us now." She reassured her. The redhead was quite curious as to what had happened to her blonde friend, of course she would be, and she knew she wasn't the only one.

Lucy nodded, meeting with the knight's brown eyes. "Yeah…" She said as she considered where to begin, there was quite a lot to tell them about. "I don't know where to start, though.." She said and scratched the back of her head.

"Start where it all began." Gray suggested.

The blonde nodded again and followed his suggestion. "Okay." She said and glanced at the redhead. "It started back before we accepted the mission." She said slowly. "When Erza hugged me so tightly it made me pass out." She said a little quickly.

Gray deadpanned at the knight. "What the heck? Control yourself, Erza." He told her. It was absurd that she hugged people _so_ tightly, she should know the limit.

Erza looked at him. "It couldn't be helped." She reassured him.

Lucy smiled at them, before once again adopting a more… Reminiscing expression, as she thought back. "Either way, for the short second I had passed out, two words had filtered into my mind. _Akashi_ and _help_." She told them.

Natsu looked confusedly at her. "What the heck's a 'Akashi'?" He asked her. He had never heard that word ever before. Was it a food?

Lucy giggled at him and shook her head, imagining what Natsu could be thinking Akashi was. "Not 'what', but 'who'." She corrected him.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows. "Akashi's a person?" He asked her. "How do you know?" He asked, leaning against the wall. He had a feeling this would be a rather long explanation.

The Celestial mage nodded. "Yeah, he's a person." She confirmed. "I met him when I passed out the next time, at our mission in Acacia." She said, already feeling the guilt oozing out of her teammates. She didn't comment on it, but just continued her explanation. "I was knocked out by a third mage coming in behind me while I was fighting two others. I believe he brought a club down on my head, but either way, I passed out almost immediately." She said, doing her best not to let the guilty atmosphere affect her. "This time was different from the first though." She said.

"How so?" Erza asked, after Lucy had remained still for a short moment. What could the blonde have experienced, which made her so hesitant to tell the four of them?

Lucy breathed in heavily. "I woke up." She said, seeing their confused faces. Just as Natsu was about to say something, she quickly cut him off. "In another place entirely." She said.

Happy tilted his head in confusion. "You don't make any sense, Lushy." He told her. "Are you sure you're not going crazy?"

Lucy couldn't be bothered to get annoyed at the cat right at that moment, although she would have at any other point in time. She nodded. "Yeah, I know I'm not." She said, then smiled at him. "Believe it or not, though, at one point I thought I was."

The Fire Dragon Slayer looked at the blonde with as much confusion as the rest of the team. "What do you mean, Lucy?" He asked her, a little impatient for her to explain what was going on.

"I went to another world." She told them, just waiting for their response.

Approximately three seconds passed by before the anticipated response broke the silence. "WHAT?!" All four of them yelled in unison.

Lucy shushed them. "You're waking the neighbors!" She warned them, which calmed their loud voices down, but not their overly confused expressions. "I know, it sounds crazy, right?" She asked them. "They had gigantic buildings, so tall they touched the clouds, screens and street-lights which worked on their own, without any Lacrima at all." She told them, seeing their amazed, but still confused expressions. She lifted a single finger into the air, much like Momoi had back on Earth. "But most of all, there's barely any magic in the air." She told them. "I wouldn't even be able to call Plue out over there." She said to emphasize her point.

Erza's eyes widened to unimaginable lengths. "But… That's not possible." She said. "Such large buildings would crumble and break, those screens and lights shouldn't be working at all, and without any magic… Just how do they survive?" She asked what everyone was thinking.

Lucy giggled at her question. "I thought something similar to that, actually." She said and thought back to what Loke had told her. "Loke did a little research yesterday, and he found out that Earth, as that world is called, supports itself entirely by its own minerals and what can be found in the ground." She said. "They have electronic devices, can call each other up over long distances with these small things, small enough to could be in your pockets easily." She said and gestured to Gray's pants, which didn't have the biggest pockets around. "Everything in their world is something created on Earth, through wind and sun, for example, it's amazing." She said.

Gray's eyes widened. "That _is_ amazing, actually." He said with a nod. He had never thought something like that was possible.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I know, right?" She asked him rhetorically. "Anyhow, of course I didn't learn this the very first time I was there." She told them.

Now Natsu was the one to widen his eyes. "What?! You've been there more than once?!" He asked her confusedly.

Lucy smiled at him and his slow mind. "Yeah, of course I have." She said and counted the times in her head. "Hmm.. It's three times now." She said.

Erza's face lit up in realization. "Oh.." She said in a thoughtful way, which in many ways indicated the redhead had probably figured it out.

The blonde looked back at her friend and smiled a little, having already figured their leader would be the first to figure out she had also gone there when she slept. "So, the first time I went there, I was quite roughed up after the battle, as you've seen. And when I was startled awake, I was lying on a bench, with two young boys standing by the side of it." She explained, remembering that first time she met with the boys and that world. It felt quite long ago, yet it was as clear as had it happened the day before. "I quickly found out there was no magic and such, but figured it was a dream, so I played along with the two boys. The best I could anyway." She said.

"What are their names?" Erza asked, having an idea of at least one of them.

Had she figured that out too? Well, Lucy didn't expect less from Erza. "One was called Shintaro Midorima, he had semi-long, green hair, a darker green pair of eyes and wore glasses, and was taller than me." She said, thinking about how 13-year olds in that world was taller than her. Was she really just that small? "The other, as I think you figured out, was Seijuro Akashi." She said, seeing their eyes flood with recognition. "He has red hair, a little like yours in color, Erza, and kind of messy. What's interesting though, is his eyes." She said, mostly to herself. "They're mismatched, one being a bright yellow and the other an as bright red." She told them.

Natsu, having finally made the connection between Akashi and the two words she had heard, clapped his hand together. "Oh! Akashi! He's one of those two things you found out when Erza gave you that deadly hug, right?!" He asked eagerly, sure he was right.

Lucy giggled and nodded. "Exactly, that's him." She confirmed for him.

Gray scowled at the dumb idiot sitting on the bed. "Dumbass, can't your brain go any faster? Or is that your limit?" He taunted the pink-haired Slayer.

Natsu glared at the Ice Make mage. "Who're you calling dumbass, dumbass?!" He asked him with a sneer.

Said Ice Make mage lifted an eyebrow at him. "You, obviously." He said matter-of-factly. "Are you too stupid to understand that too?" He asked him.

"Why you!" Natsu growled, about to stand up, when a heavy-armored hand landed on top of his head, making him fall down on the bed again.

Erza glared at Natsu and Gray - who she had also hit in the head. "Shut up both of you and listen to what Lucy is telling you." She demanded of them, focusing her attention back at Lucy who was sweat dropping at the familiar scene. "Now then, Lucy. This boy, Akashi, has something to do with the two words you heard, don't they?" She asked the blonde.

Lucy shrugged lightly. "I don't know for sure yet, but I'm pretty sure he does. Whether I need to help him, which seems like the most logical, or he needs to help me, I don't know." She said.

The Requip mage brought two fingers up to her chin, going into her 'thinking position'. "I see…" She said. What Lucy said made sense. Why else would she be going to another world? It was hard to believe it was because she needed help herself. That she could get back here, in Fairy Tail. So, she probably needed to help this Akashi with something. "Is there anything else you've experienced, of which you feel is important?" She asked the blonde.

Lucy thought about the redhead's question. Everything she experienced was important, to her at least, but in the whole picture, whether those boys went at Teiko or another school in Tokyo probably didn't hold much importance in the long run. And likewise with whether they played basketball or football. But there was one thing though.

She nodded to the other mage. "Yeah, there is one thing." She said, holding a dramatic pause. When she felt she'd had enough of the expectant looks from her teammates, she finally elaborated. "I met someone else there." She said.

Gray grunted. "Of course you would, those two boys can't be the only ones on a whole planet." He said. How did that seem important to the blonde?

The Celestial mage shook her head at him, understanding what the Ice Make mage was probably thinking. "Not just anyone, Gray, _someone_." She told him. "This man, I believe he is about 50 years old." She said. "What's more, he had a pair of keys. Two silver, the Demon and the Angel." She told them, waiting for them to figure out what she was talking about.

Happy furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion. "Do you mean he had Spirit keys, Lucy?" He asked her hesitantly. It didn't sound right that someone from another world would have keys belonging to their world.

But, Lucy nodded. "That's exactly what I mean, Happy." She confirmed, making the cat smile proudly. "Not only that. The Demon and the Angel constellation and keys disappeared many years ago. Mama told me the story, it was said the story appeared way back, before she was born, and it has for a long time only been considered a myth, that they never really existed in the first place." She said, her fascination for the constellations and stars easily shining through in her explanation and voice.

The Fire Dragon Slayer tilted his head. "So, is he also a Celestial mage?" He asked what everyone wanted to ask.

"I don't know." She said. "He didn't actually tell me, but he _did_ tell me he was from our world." She said. "Next time I go to Earth, which will be when I sleep tonight, probably, I will have the chance to talk to him." She said, remembering what he had told her.

Erza nodded thoughtfully. "I see. So am I to assume you just met him tonight?" She asked the blonde. "Okay, tell us his name, Lucy. Maybe we can find something about him here." She suggested.

Lucy nodded eagerly, excited with the aspect of maybe finding out about another Celestial mage. She had only ever met one other Celestial mage than her mother, and that was Everlue, the creep, who had previously owned Virgo's keys. The fact that Shirogane could maybe be like her excited her.

"His name is Kozo Shirogane." She remembered. He seemed like such a nice old grandfatherly man. In a way. He was like the grandfather she never had.

Natsu nodded determinedly, his spirit completely reawakened. "Yosh! Let's go find out who this old man is!" He said semi-loudly.

Happy pumped a little paw into the air. "Aye sir!" He agreed excitedly as all four of them were making their way outside, towards the guild to look in their library.

Lucy sighed at their eagerness with smile. "You can head over there before me, I'll catch up to you after I've taken a bath." She told them. She couldn't wake up and be entirely fresh without her morning bath. That was just how it was.

The team agreed on that, and while those four walked towards the guild, Lucy undressed in her bathroom. She pulled the shirt over her head, being a bit wary about her stomach, which was still bandaged up in the white gauze. She looked at herself in the mirror, then looked down at her arm in wonder. There wasn't a single scar left after the electric wave she had been hit with, the smaller injuries were completely gone. Having brought the whole fight up in the conversation with her teammates, she remembered she had also been hit by a club in the head.

She tentatively moved her hand to the top of her head, where she had been hit, and touched the spot. And didn't feel any pain at all. She furrowed her eyebrows at herself in the mirror. How could that have happened? She realized she hadn't felt the injury at all after sleeping that first night. Had she been right in assuming that the travelling between worlds sped up her healing?

It kind of made sense in a way. As far as she'd experienced, every time she appeared at one or the other world, it felt like she had had a nice, long night's sleep, while she actually didn't ever _really_ sleep. But she still felt rejuvenated, no matter what she had done, for example after being beaten down in that fight. Granted, she did feel the pain of her injuries, but, while she couldn't know for sure, she could only imagine it was the kind of injuries you didn't just stand up and walk around with.

So, the rest you would usually get when sleeping, did she get that while she travelled between worlds? Was it there the whole night was summed up? Her only guess was that she somehow sped through a whole night every time she went from one world to another, which what would be two days for everyone else, was four for her.

She smiled a little. All the training she could get done if she found the time to do it.

Ah well, she probably wouldn't be training much on Earth, her kind of training most likely seemed weird to the basketball team and anyone else in that world. Who didn't go around beating people into a pulp.

She decided to continue the undressing, so she could find out if she could get some information on Kozo Shirogane.

She slowly began unwinding the gauze which had been lying around her stomach. Gradually, it revealed the angry, pinkish red mark, which spanned over her stomach. She noticed a few things though, first off it didn't hurt near as much as it had the other day when she took the bandages off, she didn't even wince. Second, the color of the wound had gone from an almost entirely red to a lighter red, as if it was a really, _really_ bad sunburn. And third, it was much smaller than what I had previously been. Enough to could easily see with the eye anyway.

Lucy smiled by herself. Now she wouldn't have to go with long sleeved shirts and something to cover her legs. All she needed was something to cover her stomach now.

 **At the guild, Fairy Tail, much later~**

"Argh! There's nothing in this one either!" Gray said and threw the book he'd been reading in off to the side and falling back on his back.

Lucy looked up and around to see books floating all around on the floor around her and her team. They'd been going at it for who knows how long, but hadn't had much success. "Have anyone found anything?" She asked them.

"NO!" A unison of Gray and Natsu's voice resounded in the room. Judging by the tone they had used, they were both tired and annoyed with it all now, which only made her hide her smile.

Gray grunted. "We've gone through the entire goddamn library already, there's nothing here!" He complained. Although he was right, they'd gone through every book, which could possibly hold any information on either Earth, Celestial magic, other worlds in general or people who claimed to have travelled between worlds. And they had gotten nothing they didn't already know.

Erza took her gale-force reading glasses off, which they all wore, and looked all around without even a flicker of change in her expression. "It seems this library holds no valuable information for us or our research on Kozo Shirogane." She said, or rather repeated what Gray had said.

Natsu sighed. "Then now what?" He asked hopelessly.

The knight turned to him, her expression forever unchanging. "Now we go to the Magical Library." She told him plainly.

"UGH!" Four voices said at the very same time, echoing off the empty walls.

 **At the end of the day~**

In the end, they hadn't found anything at all. Nothing. At. All. They had dedicated an entire day to nothing. It was depressing, especially for a certain pair of rivals.

"Why did'cha have to drag us to the Magical Library, Erza? There's nothing in that big thing!" Natsu complained. And for once with good reason.

Not only did they go home empty-handed from the library, but it was also the biggest in all of Fiore and lay in Crocus, which they had to go by train to reach. Erza had demanded they went through everything, just as they had with Fairy Tail's library, to see if they could find anything. How many books they had gone through, they didn't know, but much more than a thousand. Now all of their heads were tired after being pumped with all the information all day.

On the plus side though, they knew almost everything there was to know about Celestial mages, and what other people thought about other worlds. Yes, what other people _thought_ of other worlds. No one actually seemed to know anything about it for real.

It was almost laughable.

In the end, they had all decided they would crash at Lucy's, just for the heck of it. So, that was where they were headed now.

"Just shut up and sleep, Idiot." Gray growled, having been given the honor of carrying his much loved rival all the way from the train station to Lucy's, while the guy could puke all over him any given time. It was indeed something which lit up an otherwise wonderful day for the Ice mage.

They all soon reached Lucy's place, and barely even made it inside, before they all just fell asleep on the floor.

All of them were already fast asleep, when a golden light lit up the room suddenly, and disappeared quickly again, leaving the room with only three people and a cat.

 **So, that's it for today, guys! Hope you liked it!  
And that I managed to make the start sad, somehow…**

 **So, next week we'll find out who and what Kozo Shirogane really is and how he got those keys! Excited, aren't we? I am for sure! - to see your reactions, that is. I have something very special planned for you regarding him :3**

 **Anyhow, a kinda** _ **IMPORTANT MESSAGE**_ **. I will happily receive and consider any and all ideas you could have for what Lucy could do and experience with the Miracles we all know and love, and any other character, really. Like, if you want her to visit Kagami in America, tell me.  
So, write, either PM or Review, me what you think, if you want to have an influence on what will happen~!**

 **Now that's outta the way, thank you all for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing! I LOVE YOU! SO** **GODDAMN** **MUCH!**

 **~Line464d**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Sooo~ back at Earth again. Let's see if I can accomplish my goal of actually making this chapter funny!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Okay, so we're here again, huh? Right, the two wonderful manga-made-anime's I've seen and read - and is now abusing in my own story - are made by none other than this pink Slowpoke and this goldish Abra. Give them a round of applause everyone!**

 **Teiko Junior High~**

The blue-haired young teen looked up at the tower of a boy walking next to him. "Oi, Atsushi, we haven't even reached the cafeteria yet, why the hell are you eating already?" He asked the big, purple-haired boy - his own age, even though it was unbelievable - walking next to him, eating his usual snacks with a bored look.

Those two and the other first years, excluding Haizaki, were walking together towards the cafeteria of the school. There was only one class left before school was over and they could start the training they'd been waiting for all day. For various reasons. But most of all, just to play basketball and get better. This time excluding Momoi.

It had become somewhat of a habit among the first years to meet with the second and third years at a certain table every lunch-break. It was the same table every time, it was almost like the whole school knew that, _that_ table was the one the basketball team's 1st string used, and therefore no one who wasn't on the 1st string team wouldn't even consider sitting there. An unspoken rule of sorts.

Murasakibara moved his gaze down at the dark-skinned boy walking next to him, not even bothering to turn his head. "I was hungry." He simply replied, as if that answered every question in the world.

The pinkette giggled at the exchange, but that stopped, when she almost walked into Midorima's back. "What's going on?" She asked, when she realized Akashi and Midorima, who had been walking in the front, had stopped up completely.

Midorima and Akashi looked at the scene in front of them with wonder and slight interest respectively. What the two young basketball players were looking at was none other than the entire Teiko male student body all standing in line at the cafeteria, all with the same love-struck expression, while the girl student body wore expressions varying from utter disgust and envy to adoring and amazement. That went for the teacher as well, the two quickly noted. Only few, either teachers or students, were just looking at the scene with confusion or didn't seem to care at all.

Midorima pushed his glasses up, as was a habit of his. "Can anyone explain this situation?" He asked. He didn't want to say it out loud, directly, but this situation was startling him. He almost had troubles finding the words he wanted to use.

Just as the green-haired teen asked that question, a student passed by. He looked at all five of them as if they were aliens. "Don't you know?" He asked, as if whatever was causing this ruckus was the most obvious thing in the world. "Some _extremely_ hot girl showed up and is now working at the cafeteria! And she's the kindest thing you've ever met too!" He said and then ran off. "SHE'S PERFECT!" He yelled, but it was barely more than a whisper over the noise of the many, many people there.

All five turned and made eye-contact with each other. "Lucy?" They first asked in unison. Then they nodded. "Lucy." They agreed. There was just no doubt.

No normal girl would be able to draw so much attention from so many people at once, and then those reactions too. They knew of no one, who was both 'hot', as that student had said it, and kind at the same time. Except this one girl.

Akashi shook his head at it all. The maximum age of the students on this school was 16 years old, and minimum 13. Lucy was at least 17 years old, none of the boys here would draw her affections, they were too young. And then the teachers, they were all too old. It was all so meaningless, and it annoyed him indescribably much. However, he wasn't entirely sure why.

The redhead walked towards their usual table, the crowd easily splitting for him to pass through, and he ended up there, seeing only the captain and a few others were not up, trying to sneak a peek at the beautiful blonde. What was she even doing here in the first place?

He placed himself on the seat on the opposite side of the table from Nijimura with a sigh. He already regretted not accepting the bento his maids had offered him before he left. He hadn't imagined that this would happen. Not even for a second. Why would he?

Nijimura looked at the five first years, who plopped down on the seats at the table, ending up with looking at the redhead. "Akashi." He said, drawing the kid's attention. "Has Lucy gotten a part-time job at the cafeteria or something?" The captain asked.

Akashi shrugged slightly. "Perhaps." He neither confirmed nor denied. "She has mentioned nothing like that." He told his captain, while wondering about that very thing himself. He glanced up at the big crowd. That line, if that was even what it was, was not worth entering in just to get some food. He could survive without, then bring bento's the following days, assuming that Lucy really had begun working there.

The redhead's thoughts were interrupted when the purple-haired teen pushed his chair back and began walking up towards the cafeteria. "I'm hungry." He simply said, before joining the rest of the male population in the building.

Aomine grinned at what he saw. "He's mowing them all down!" He said with an amused voice. And truly, Murasakibara _was_ mowing them all down. He didn't care who he stepped on or walked into as he steadily walked through the crowd. "It's the perfect opportunity!" The blue-haired boy said before jumping up after the taller guy and walking right behind him, using Murasakibara to clear his way.

Akashi, seeing this was probably the only chance he would have at getting some food, took the opportunity and joined the other two. He would have to remember this for later, he thought as he stepped around one of the students the tall mountain of a guy had moved down.

In no time, and with no problems, the three reached the desk, standing first in line and seeing their blonde friend rushing around, taking orders from students and getting them done. Akashi noted that the many small burns she'd had just a few days ago had completely vanished from her now bare and smooth arms and legs. He furrowed his eyebrows lightly. Wasn't that a little quick?

The blonde girl quickly noticed Murasakibara standing at the front of the desk and smiled widely. "Murasakibara! Nice to see you!" She greeted happily.

Murasakibara looked down at her with drooping eyes and a lazy scowl. "I want that." He said and pointed at the snacks standing on the desk.

Lucy sweat dropped at him, but kept smiling. "Yeah, all right." She said and pulled one down from the box. "Here you go." She said.

Murasakibara looked at the single snack-bar in front of him, then up at Lucy, who was smiling, again. "More." He said and Lucy took another one down with a nod. "More." He repeated. Although Lucy's smile faltered just a bit, she took another one down. "More." Murasakibara said again with his monotone voice. Lucy's veins began bulging a little, although she kept her smile up. "More." Murasakibara told her.

Out of irritation, Lucy grabbed three of the bars and smacked the lightly down on the table. "That should be enough, right Murasakibara?" She asked him, doing her best to keep her smile, just as Mira did, even though it was starting to get difficult. She could even feel her eyebrow twitching.

Murasakibara looked at her without blinking for a moment before answering. "More." He said, unaware of what he was bringing up.

Lucy's smile disappeared completely as her exasperation with the purple-haired boy got the best of her. She violently ripped every snack-bar in sight out and laid it before the boy before glowering at him with her inner demon. "Now go eat all your goddamn snacks, Murasakibara!" She growled at him.

The teen only nodded unaffectedly. "Thank you." He said, put the money on the table and somehow scooped everything up in his arms before walking back to the table, leaving a muttering and cursing woman behind, not even feeling how close he'd just been to hell.

Aomine chuckled at the whole thing. "Gotta give it to ya, you're more patient than most." He grinned at her, now standing at the front of the desk since the tall mountain had moved out of the way. Usually, from his experience, the new ones always acted just as Lucy had with Murasakibara, although they'd snap earlier on than she did.

Lucy was pulled away from doing her voodoo on Murasakibara, throwing the simple, but ugly, doll away and seeing a pair of faces she recognized, smiled widely. "Aomine! Akashi!" She said in a kind of greeting. "What can I do for you?" She asked them, her previous anger completely forgotten.

The blue-haired basketball player grinned. "Yeah, I'd like the sandwich with ham." He told her. That had quickly become his favorite thing in the cafeteria, being the closest thing to his favorite meal, the Teriyaki burger he'd gotten ever since he was little. Although cafeteria food was never really incredibly good.

Lucy smiled widely and nodded. "Right, what about you Akashi?" She asked, looking towards the red-haired boy.

He nodded. "Same as him." He simply said. None of the things actually seemed very inviting to eat, and didn't taste good in any meaning of the word, but it wasn't disgusting. Simply the taste of school cafeteria food.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "All right, I'll get it right away!" She said and hurried off to find what the two of them had asked for. Before the crowd could even begin 'Aww'ing at her disappearance, she reappeared behind the desk, putting the two sandwiches on the desk. "Here you go, you two." She said as they handed her the money in return.

Aomine grabbed his and decided to ask what they all wanted to know. "So, you've gotten a part-time job here, have you?" He asked the blonde.

Lucy paused. "Well, not really…" She trailed off, then smiled widely. "I'll explain later at the gym." She said and gestured to the calling crowd. "I'm a bit busy right now." She said and sweat dropped.

They both nodded. "All right. See you there then." Akashi said and with a wave they turned away, leaving Lucy to take the requests of the struck students, smiling to all of them like the sun itself.

The boys went back to their table and reclaimed their seats, barely even getting to sit down, before the expected question was asked. "So, was it a part-time job or what?" Nijimura asked, before they'd even sat down.

Aomine landed on the chair and grinned at his captain. "Why are you so interested, Captain?" He asked the captain of the basketball team, while said captain flinched at the implication. "Something you want to tell us?" He asked him.

Nijimura glared at his underclassman, although his body was betraying his mind, if the blush on his cheeks were anything to go by. "I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm just curious about this new girl. It's quite normal, isn't it?" He asked. Aomine just laughed at his weak attempt.

Akashi, as well as the others at the table as well, excluding Murasakibara, who weren't listening to the conversation, were unable to keep their smiles down at their captain's obvious feelings. Although it was showing in varying forms.

The black-haired teen grunted exasperatedly. "Fine, if that's how it is, I'll just find out myself." He growled under his breath, turning back to his food.

"No, she told us it wasn't a part-time." Akashi said, taking a bite of his sandwich, which somehow held all the manners he'd been raised with. "She'd tell us in the gym after class." He told his captain.

"Thank you, Akashi." The black-haired teen said. "See that, everyone? _That's_ how you answer a question, _that's_ how you treat your captain." Nijimura told them all.

The redhead shook his head. "I pitied your weak attempt at hiding your emotions, Nijimura, nothing more than that." He told his captain calmly as the table burst into chuckles.

Nijimura's forehead hit the table and the older boy looked up at the redhead with an annoyed expression. "Thank you for your support, Akashi. Much appreciated, really." He said sarcastically.

Akashi shrugged. "It was my pleasure, Nijimura." He commented as he continued eating his sandwich, as if he hadn't just severely insulted his captain and made his whole basketball team giggle like schoolgirls.

Nijimura grumbled under his breath, then picked up his tray and stood up suddenly. "Tch, damn first years, can't take any more of your blabbering." He said and began walking off. "Look forward to a beating during training." He said before pushing his way through the still massive crowd.

Ten minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the start of the last class. The basketball team decided to wait for all the other students to have left the room, before beginning to move, since otherwise it'd be too stuffy - and to some annoying and troublesome - to have to push through that crowd to get to the door.

Lucy saw the basketball team leaving the cafeteria and waved with a smile at them. "See you all later! Have a good class!" She said, to which they responded with a wave and an 'as if' from Aomine.

She hummed happily as she grabbed a dishcloth, wringed it with water and began cleaning the now quite dirty tables, after the entire school had been in the room, more or less.

But that wasn't why she was humming. Really, it was because she had spoken with her team, and the weight on her shoulders was lifted, because she was going to talk with Kozo Shirogane sometime that day, she'd probably find out a great lot of what was going on with her, why she was travelling between worlds every time she was unconscious. She already knew that she probably wouldn't figure _everything_ out just through talking to him, but she knew she would learn at least something.

And even if she didn't, simply the knowledge of someone other than herself from Earthland and whom she could talk to was wonderful enough in and on itself. And on top of that, just knowing the Demon and the Angel really existed and even seeing their keys was enough for her too, she knew how much her mother had wanted to see those keys and the Spirits behind them. While Lucy probably wouldn't see the Spirits themselves, like her mother had wished, she was closer than any other Celestial mage probably ever would be.

She looked up at the roof. "I hope you're watching, Mama. They do exist, the Angel and the Demon." She whispered to her Mama, wondering if she could even hear her, now she was in another world. "Can you see them?" She asked, a single tear slipping down her cheek. She wished and hoped her mother could see her, see those two keys, see that she had fulfilled what her mother had always wished to do.

"Lucy!" She heard a rusty voice call behind her. She quickly dried her cheek of the tear and turned to the voice she recognized as Mary's, the cafeteria lady, with a smile. The old woman came running and clasped both of the blonde's cheeks in her hands, grateful tears flowing from her cheeks. "Thank you so much for today! We haven't sold this much ever before!" She said.

Lucy smiled at her and lay her hand over the old woman's and smiled gingerly at her. "It was my pleasure, I had a fun time doing this today." She reassured the elder lady. She took both of Mary's hands down and held them between her own. "I was thinking, if it was okay with you, that I come around here once in a while and help out with whatever I can. For free, of course. Wou-" She didn't get to say more before she was interrupted.

"Yes! Yes of course! Please, I would very much enjoy your being here!" She said eagerly and noticed the dishcloth on the now cleaned table. "Oh please, let me take this for you, Lucy." She said and grabbed the piece of cloth before continuing on to another table and beginning the cleaning there.

Lucy smiled at her. The old woman seemed so much like a grandmother, the way she was fuzzing around Lucy and not letting her help her at all. Nonetheless, she had to ask. "Is there anything I can help you with, Mary?" She asked the elder lady.

Mary turned around and looked at Lucy with wide, brown eyes. "Oh, no. Please go out and have some fun!" She told Lucy and began walking towards the blonde as she said it.

The blonde tilted her head a little and furrowed her eyebrows. "But, I don't ha-" Once again, she was cut off by the old cafeteria lady.

"No, you will go out and have fun with your friends." She said and pushed Lucy towards the exit. "I will have none of it! You won't waste your whole youth on an old, wrinkled lady like me, not if I can help it!" She said and pushed Lucy over the threshold to the hallway outside. "Now then, let this old woman take care of the boring chores instead." She said with a kind smile.

Lucy smiled right back at her. "Thank you Mary." She said. "I'll come by and help you sometime!" She reassured her as she began walking down the hall. That was when she realized she had no idea where she was going and even less where she was supposed to go to get to the gym. The other times, she'd been sleeping there and didn't have to go anywhere. And the only time she'd ever gone out of the gym, she didn't take notice of where they were going at all. She sighed at her own stupidity. "Oh, come on Lucy, that's just too stupid." She told herself.

She looked around, starting her search of someone who could tell her the way. She didn't want to disturb Mary any further, or seem as stupid as she felt - to someone she would probably come to know at least - so rather than that, she would rather ask someone else on this school, whom it was probably unlikely she would come to talk to for real.

But as it turned out, there wasn't a single soul on that hallway. Of course there wouldn't be, they'd be in class. They should be, actually.

Lucy sighed to herself. Well, she didn't have any other choice than to just walk around and see if she could find her way to the gym on her own. She'd just have to walk around until she found something which looked like it. Or what she thought it looked like anyway.

Ah, she would probably never find it.

She giggled a little to herself. Oh how it would look like her. But then, she should pull herself together, she'd been used to the maze-like infrastructure of the Heartfilia Konzern and could still remember the whole building as had it been her own pocket, so finding her way through a simple school-building, no matter how big it was, it would never be as intricate as rich peoples' houses.

So, with that in mind the girl began walking down the hallways, looking out the windows once in a while, in case the building she imagined it was would be outside.

She sighed after having walked a few minutes and found absolutely nothing but doors leading to classrooms. She turned her head and looked into one of the classrooms, seeing as there was windows leading to the hallways with every room.

Inside the students sat in rows, all looking up to where the teacher was writing on the blackboard, most of them taking notes, while some, mainly 'bad boys', had kicked back and looked like it bored them to no end. Many of the students in there had hair-colors varying from brown to completely black. Was it just the basketball team, which was crazy enough to have weird hair-colors like they did? Lucy grinned at the thought of them all having dyed their hair the color it had become. It just seemed weird with everyone but Momoi.

That was when Lucy noticed the sound of semi-loud yelling muffled by the closed windows, coming from the outside. How she hadn't noticed before, she couldn't tell. But either way, she made her way to the window and looked down at the ground, which was a floor underneath her.

At a kind of field, many people were running around on a pair of fields, one with only girls and one with only boys. There was a ball on each field and they all ran around kicking to it, half of the people wearing an extra shirt over their sports' clothes in a different neon color, distinguishing the teams between each other. If she remembered correctly, what those guys were playing seemed to be football, or soccer, as it was called some places.

She smiled and began running back where she'd come from, where she'd found a staircase, but chosen to just continue on, in case she could find someone. She flew down the stairs and towards where she'd seen those people playing football. She practically skipped in pure joy of having finally found people from the staircase and towards the exit of the door and further to the fields, but reigned herself in, so she could only be an idiot with direction, instead of a thorough idiot. There was a big difference between those two.

She slowed down her running to a fast walk as she reached the fence running all around the fields. She looked around for someone who could help her find her way through this school. To the right, she saw a handsome, young blonde looking through the fence with a thoughtful expression.

She smiled at having found someone to ask and began walking towards him. "Excuse me!" She called after him. The boy turned his head to Lucy, revealing a pair of beautiful, caramel eyes looking at her in confusion. She ended up standing beside him and bowed lightly. "I'm sorry, but could you show me the way to the basketball gym? I seem to have lost my way." She said with an apologetic smile.

The boy looked at her for a moment, as if expecting some reaction from her, when he realized he wouldn't get any he looked to the right and then back to Lucy. "Yeah, sure. Follow me, it's right over here." He said and threw a last glance at the fields before gesturing for Lucy to follow him.

Lucy fell into his pace and smiled brightly at the boy. He looked to be a first year, but, of course, he was still taller than her. "Thank you so much! It's a great help." She said to him.

He smiled and nodded to her. "It's nothing, I'm glad to help." He reassured the blonde woman walking next to him.

Lucy beamed at her fellow blonde in gratitude. "Thank you again." She thanked the younger teen. "I'm Lucy, by the way." She said, thinking she might as well introduce herself. "Lucy Heartfilia. What's your name?" She asked him.

The younger, blonde boy looked at her with surprise. "I'm Kise, Ryota Kise." He introduced himself hesitantly, before sending the other blonde a smile. The two walked a little in silence, before Kise broke it again. "Say, Lucy, why are you going to the basketball gym? You don't seem like one of the players or coaches." He asked her.

Lucy giggled. "You're right, I'm not." She said with a smile. "I know the players there, so I'm going to watch their training." She explained. Now she didn't just know Akashi and Midorima, she knew Momoi, Aomine, Murasakibara and Nijimura too.

Kise furrowed his eyebrows when she finished her sentence. "Really? Doesn't that get boring?" He asked her. If he had to watch others train, he'd die of boredom within ten minutes.

Lucy shook her head. "No, not at all." She told him. "They're all really good players." She said and looked at him. "Besides, I have someone I can talk to if I get bored." She said and winked. "Although watching boys work out, no matter what age, never gets boring." She said and giggled.

Kise grinned at her and shook his head. "Girls will be girls, I guess." He said.

Lucy giggled again. "Yeah, we will." She agreed, then scrunched her face up a little. "Although it _does_ feel a little weird saying it." She admitted. After all, those boys were quite a lot younger than she was.

The blonde boy looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked her. What she had said was confusing. As far as he knew, watching guys train was attractive to girls.

She looked up at him with a smile and a sweat drop. "I guess it isn't so obvious, since I'm lower than everyone here." She said with slight irritation evident in her voice. "I'm actually 17, soon-to-be 18, even though I may not look like it." She told him.

Kise's eyes widened. "What? Really?" He asked her, then realized he'd just confirmed her suspicion of looking younger than she was.

Lucy giggled. "I was right then." She muttered amusedly. When she saw the younger blonde was about to apologize to her, she shook her head. "It's all right, Kise, you guys are just impossibly tall." She said with a bright smile. Before Kise got the chance to even reply to her, she saw the building they were walking towards, recognizing the wooden floors she could see through the open doors. "Oh, that must be it!" She said and failed to contain herself from running the rest of the way. She turned around fully and waved to the other blonde as she kept moving backwards. "Thanks again for your help, Kise! I hope I can meet you some other time!" She said and ran into the gym.

Kise stood back, watching where Lucy had just been with confusion written all over his face. "Right.. You're welcome." He said to the now gone girl. He smiled and shook his head, turning away to leave. "What a weird girl." He muttered to himself, as he turned away from where the gym was and returning to watching football. Maybe he'd try basketball after football and see which was most challenging.

Lucy stopped up at the entrance, having thought the gym would be empty. Apparently, she was wrong. A whole team, seemingly much bigger than the 1st string's. But having watched the 1st string a few times now, she could with a single glance see that these guys weren't even near her guys' level. What she was watching was either the 3rd or the 2nd string training.

She turned her head towards the benches, feeling strangely drawn to them, with lack of better explanation. At first they seemed empty, but taking an extra look, she could see a single guy with bright blue hair sitting at the benches, sweating profusely as he watched the others train. How she hadn't noticed that top of bright hair right from the beginning, she couldn't tell, but now she did.

She went to the boy and sat down next to him. He didn't even turn his head towards her. "Is this the 2nd or the 3rd string?" She asked him with a smile as she watched the training continue. She could see some of the similarities it had with the 1st string's, only it was more slow-paced and she could actually see the moves she had been of told by Momoi while watching them train.

The blue-haired boy turned his head to the blonde in surprise, before looking around and seeing no one there. He pointed to himself. "Are you talking to me?" He asked her, his ocean-blue eyes staring at her.

Lucy smiled and looked at the boy, who, she realized, was actually lower than her. "Yeah, of course I'm talking to you, there's no one else on the bench, right?" She asked, giggling internally at the boy.

The blue-haired boy stared wide-eyed at her in silence for a moment before answering. "They're the 3rd string." He told her, looking out at the players again.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows at the words the boy had chosen. "Aren't you also a part of this team?" She said. Otherwise, she couldn't make sense of why this boy was sweating so much.

The boy's eyes softened. "Well.. For now, I am. But if I don't get stronger, there's a high possibility they'll kick me off the team." He told her, already feeling horrible for his horrible skills at the game.

Lucy watched his expression for a moment. Judging by the look he was giving the players out there, he regretted being so weak. Something Lucy could relate to. "Don't worry." She said and looked at the playing team with a tender smile when she saw him turning his head to her. "It's obvious you love basketball, it's easy to see in your eyes." She told him, and turned her tender smile to the boy again. "If you put all of that love into your basketball training, then at some point, I'm sure they'll recognize your skill." She reassured him.

The boy looked at her with wide, yet understanding eyes. "But… I don't have a talent for it." He continued, almost as if he was trying to convince the girl he really weren't worth anything for the club.

Lucy smiled again. "That just means you have to work a little harder than everyone else." She told him. "You know, in the end, those who work for it gain more than those who just rely on their talent." She said.

The blue-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows again as he thought about what the blonde said. "Then… What am I supposed to do?" He asked. He was already training his basketball a lot, usually after the school was closed and no one were there, but no matter what he did, he could hardly get any balls in the net.

Lucy dropped her head to her hand as she thought about his question. "You're already practicing your basketball a lot, aren't you?" She asked rhetorically, she guessed that from his question. Her suspicions were confirmed when the boy nodded next to her. "In that case, you need to do something else." She told him.

He looked at her confusedly. It was like the girl was talking in riddles. "What do you mean?" He asked. What else was there to do?

She turned her head and smiled a little smile at him. "Now, I'm not an expert at basketball, but what I can imagine would be the best solution for you would be that you go about training differently." She said. "You seem to lack some of the basic skills required to play basketball." She said.

The boy slumped down into depression beside her. "Oh, I see." He murmured. He already knew, and had known for years, but being told by someone else hurt much more than just thinking it.

Lucy quickly waved her hands in front of her with a desperate expression. "Oh, no, no! That's not what I meant, I swear!" She said. She elaborated when the boy turned to her with an expectant look. "What I meant is, instead of focusing on something you might not be able to reach, instead find the one thing you're really good at and train that." She cleared out. "Create something completely unique to you, a whole new style of playing." She explained.

The boy's ocean-blue eyes widened at her idea. Maybe she was right. Maybe he should turn his attention to where he was strong, instead of something he was likely never to master. Now… Which points were his strong ones?

Suddenly, the unnecessarily loud whine of the whistle in the coach's hands broke through the boy's musings. "TRAINING'S OVER!" He announced. "CLEAN THIS PLACE UP! I WANT TO SEE MY REFLECTION ON THE FLOOR!" He yelled at the players, as they all set into motion and began cleaning the place up so quick Lucy couldn't even follow their motions.

The many young boys flew around on the court, leaving only flashes of different colors after them and after less than a second, the coach really _could_ see his own reflection on the now completely clear floor.

Lucy raised both brows at the incredible display of speed. "What the…?" She trailed off. If she was that fast, she wouldn't even be needing any training at all from Gajeel.

The boy next to her chuckled. "This happens every time we know the 1st string will be training after us." He explained.

The blonde's eyes widened a little as a thought shot into her head like a bullet. "Wait… You guys do this every time?" She asked the boy, who simply nodded at that. "Then, you all have great speed." She told him and turned towards the boy. "That's what you should be focusing on, then! Develop your own style of playing, based on your incredible speed!" She said, feeling a little excited herself.

The boy's eyes widened before he gave her a little smile. He stood up and bowed deeply for the girl. "Thank you so much, Miss." He said, keeping his head down. "I can't tell you how much your words have encouraged me and how much I appreciate it, but I promise I will put your help to good use." He promised her, never once lifting his head.

Lucy smiled and stood up herself. "Please straighten your back again." She told the boy, who did what he was told. "There's no need for formalities like that, I'm just glad I could help you out." She told him earnestly.

The boy was about to say something, when he was interrupted. "Kuroko!" The coach yelled from the middle of the court. "Kuroko, where are you?!" The coach yelled again. He looked around on the court, his eyes travelling past the bench several times. He ended up scratching the back of his head. "Ah, whatever, he's probably already in there anyway." He said and began walking towards the changing-rooms.

The blue-haired boy sighed and turned to the blonde. "Thank you again, Miss. I hope I will see you sometime in the future." He told her.

Lucy smiled and nodded as she waved at him. "I feel the same! I hope everything turns out well for you!" She said as the boy went around the corner to the changing-rooms.

She pushed herself off the bench and made it towards the tool room. She felt generous, and full of energy, so she decided to set everything up for the guys, so when they came, everything was ready to be used when they arrived.

 **Okay, okay, I know. Grab your pitchforks and your torches and chase me down, why don'cha?  
But… Ya know, a lil' suspense is never bad. But I promise we'll get the story from Shirogane next time and a few other surprises as well. Ah, how I look forward to reading your reactions~**

 **BUT that doesn't mean nothing happened this chapter! We met** _ **both**_ **Kise** _ **and**_ **Kuroko! When will we see the last two members of the GoM again, I wonder?**

 **Anyway, look forward to next time~!**

 **Thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting! I appreciate it so incredibly much~!**

 **Also, you officially have reason and permission to kill me a little bit. I have COMPLETELY forgotten to mention how awesome you've all been! You have, in the duration of seven chapters, given me** **43** **favorites,** **52** **reviews and** **55** **followers on this story! Thank you SO, SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH! I** _ **LOVE**_ **you so** _ **incredibly**_ **much, I can hardly even put it into words! Damn, you guys are awesome! You aren't told that enough, you know!**

 **~Line464d**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Decided to post a little early, because I'm going to be watching a movie with my dad and lil' bro. Hope you enjoy!  
So, a two-chapters-long Earth-visit, there'll probably be more of those in the future. Possibly.  
And if you remember, she'll talk to Kozo Shirogane this chapter! Wonder if we'll get some of our questions answered? **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: Should I start using their actual names? Is 'Abra' and 'Slowpoke' not funny or just plain childishly geeky? 'Cause if so, tell me, no matter what names those two masterminds have, I still won't own either of their stories T^T**

 **Earth~**

It had taken only a little time to put everything up to where they were supposed to be, according to Lucy's memory anyway. So in the end she was left standing in the middle in the lone gym, just looking around at her work and not sure what to do with herself.

With the memory of what she had done the other day when she woke up alone in the gym playing in her mind, she went to the balls she'd pulled out and grabbed one, starting to play it around in her hands again.

Just like last, it was easy to feel how much air was within the rubber ball, it still flew through the air as easily as before. She tried doing the 'dribble' thing Nijimura had taught her last and in no time she dribbled as if she'd never stopped. Even the crossover wasn't too difficult to get under control.

Since she had the ball under control, she figured she might as well take it one level up. Slowly, while dribbling the ball in her right hand, she began moving forward as she kept dribbling. She didn't know exactly how much she could do, or how she would go about teaching herself if she ended up with extra time like this, but she remembered she'd seen the guys running around with it when warming up, and aimed for at least that level of control.

While feeling ridiculous, walking around on the court, dribbling the ball all alone, she quickly got the ball under enough control, she was confident she could progress to the other hand. And so, she did. Changing to her left, she started out with encountering some difficulty, but with just a little more time, she got that ball under good control too. And even as she changed to the crossover, it didn't take too long to figure out either.

She smiled a little. It wasn't so hard after all! She had thought it had been one of those kind of things other people would make look easy, while it actually was very difficult. But, as it had turned out, it really wasn't.

But she wasn't in the safe zone yet, she still hadn't even tried to score in the net yet. That, if nothing else, she _knew_ was harder than it looked, if the 3rd string's misses were anything to go by. They didn't score all the time, like the 1st string did. That only went to show the giant gap between the two teams, as well as the fact that the 1st string made everything about basketball look easy.

She picked the ball up and was about to go for the net, when a certain loud voice cut through the silent gym. "Oi, Lucy! What'cha doin'?" It asked.

For a second, she was stunned at how similar it sounded to the Fire Dragon Slayer's, but smiled when she saw it was just Aomine. "Oh, hi Aomine." She greeted, seeing he was the only one who had arrived. "I was just trying my luck with basketball." She told him with a smile.

The younger boy's face lit up into a bright smile, not unlike the one Natsu flashed her often, as she finished that sentence. "Really?" He asked for confirmation, to which she replied with a single nod. Somehow, defying all reason, he smiled even wider. "How's your aim?" He asked her excitedly.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion at the blue-haired player's question. "My aim? With what?" She asked, not having caught what he meant.

He just continued smiling. "Can you throw the ball in the net?" He asked, elaborating on his previous question.

Now Lucy's face lit up, but with realization. "Oh, that's what you meant." She said, mostly to herself. Then she shook her head lightly with a smile. "I doubt it, I haven't even tried yet." She then told him.

Aomine shook his head. "Don't say you can't if you haven't tried." He told her, for a moment sounding much more mature than he actually was. "I think you can do it. Give it a try!" He encouraged her.

Lucy giggled at him, feeling glad with his trust in her nonexistent abilities. "Okay, I'll try, but don't laugh if I miss miserably!" She told him.

He shook his head quickly. "I won't! I promise!" He promised her seriously. He was taking it much more serious than she had intended for it to be. But it was cute, so she didn't want to say anything.

On the other hand, she doubted she could not laugh herself if she failed as miserably as she thought she would, so even if Aomine did laugh, she doubted she'd really mind it.

She held on to the ball a little tighter, before loosening her grip a little again. While she didn't know anything about the game, she could imagine she wasn't supposed to hold the ball in a vice-grip. She stood in the little circle in front of the net, the free-throw line, if she remembered correctly. With little hesitation, she threw the ball at the net, hoping for it to actually go through it too.

Unfortunately, she hit the backboard, a little ways above the actual net, and it flew right back. It sailed past her as fast as a bullet and towards the boy standing behind her. She barely had time to even turn around, before she for the second day in a row heard the sound of the ball hitting human skin.

"Aomine!" She yelled, already worried about the boy and whether she had just knocked him down. Maybe she should just drop playing basketball around people. Or at all, really.

"Damn you throw hard, Lucy." Aomine breathed out. Just then, Lucy turned around to see the boy standing with the ball in his hands, right in front of his face. He grinned weakly at her. "I'm surprised there isn't any smoke." He joked, pulling the ball down a little.

The blonde breathed out in relief. "Thank god you have better reflexes than I do." She said in a half-jokingly manner. Although she really did mean it. She doubted she'd have caught that ball. "I'm so sorry, Aomine, I should be banned from ever touching a ball again." She admitted with a smile.

The boy shook his head. "Nah, it's all right, I caught it, didn't I?" He asked her, grinning widely. Right at that moment, he'd been happy he had started playing basketball in the streets, people there loved to intimidate others like that, so this wasn't the first time he had to catch a ball like that. Although it was a first from a girl. Especially with that kind of power. He looked at the net, holding the familiar ball in his hands. "It's easier if you aim for the little square right around the net, if you hit that, you're almost sure to score." He explained. He grinned at her. "You'll need to cut down on the power though." He said.

Lucy giggled. "Yeah, I figured that out." She said. She'd done that the last time she was there, trying to play basketball too. It was probably going to become a habit of hers, she had no doubt about it.

Aomine threw her the ball, throwing it in a soft curve, so he was sure she'd catch it. "What'a'ya say we try again?" He suggested, curious to see what she'd do this time. He doubted she'd actually score with what she'd been doing before.

She smiled and nodded. "All right, but stay on the ready to catch stray balls!" She said with a wink. The boy nodded with a grin as she turned to the net. Okay, now to hit within the little scare on the backboard. She grabbed the ball and lifted it a little up, before releasing the ball in a sort of push. The orange rubber ball flew through the air, before hitting the backboard and scoring cleanly. Lucy's eyes widened and she squealed in joy as she turned to the boy, who was looking at the net, then the ball and at last at her, when she jumped into the air and caught him in a tight squeeze. "I did it!" She squealed in a high pitch, it was almost as if she'd achieved something impossible.

And in some ways, she kind of had. While she squeezed the life out of him, he was caught in surprise at her score. He'd thought the captain had been lying when he said she seemed to have a natural talent for the game, even though she could do absolutely nothing without a little guidance. And that had only been promoted when he saw her miss the net with so much power, which was usually a sure-shot that someone just didn't possess the abilities necessary to play the game, at least not without extended training. But that girl sure as hell proved him wrong. How was that even possible? Maybe it was just a lucky shot.

He shook his head and grinned, pushing the topic away. Lucy was a weird one anyway, it wasn't so weird she could do things like that after all. "Yeah, it's amazing!" He managed to breathe out as she tightened her hold around him pure joy.

Lucy, hearing the boy's wheezing after air, quickly released him, remembering how it was like for her to experience that treatment from her red-haired best friend did it to her. Although, something good had come out of that, but this wasn't exactly the same kind of circumstances.

The boy shrunk down a little, holding a hand over his stomach as he breathed in. Lucy leant down and began stroking his back, hoping it'd somehow help. "I'm so sorry, Aomine. I don't think I should be around people today." She said with a laugh at the end.

Aomine laughed. "Don't worry, I've had worse than this." He told her. Training at Teiko could be tough, but the training he'd suffered when playing street basket was much worse. He looked up at the blonde. "Although you pack quite a punch, Lucy." He said with a grin.

Lucy scratched the back of her head and laughed. "Well…" She said. She might have an idea where she'd gotten this 'strength' from, and it was definitely Fairy Tail and all the crazy missions she'd gone on, but she couldn't explain that to Aomine, he would definitely not believe her. And he'd think she was crazy.

Their conversation was cut off when the rest of the basketball team, more or less, appeared in the door and stopped up when they saw the gym was all ready for them to begin playing. "Wha…?" Momoi asked, looking around at what she had expected she was supposed to do while the boys went changing. She noticed the two people in the middle of the court, looking at the team, and beamed as she began running towards one of them with her arms out. "Lucy-chan!" She squealed and - once again - tackled the blonde in a hug.

Said blonde giggled, although hurting her butt a little, and leaned back with the pinkette's arms around her neck. "Well, hi again, Momoi-chan." She replied, not even thinking when she added the suffix. She looked up at the rest of them and waved at them. "And you guys too."

The rest of the first years - except Haizaki - and the captain approached the two on the floor and Aomine. "Will this become a thing for you two?" Said captain asked.

He was ignored in favor of Aomine's question. "Now I remember, Lucy, what were you doing back at the cafeteria?" He asked, while the others nodded, firstly for finally remembering again but also because they were quite curios to know the answer.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Oh, right, I promised to tell you guys, didn't I?" She asked rhetorically. The others nodded and she raised a finger in the air. "It's simple, really." She said, pausing to build up the suspense. "I fell asleep on one of the tables." She said.

Those who stood fell back with their feet pointing up in the air, while Momoi sweat dropped. "What?" She asked the weird blonde, hoping for some kind of explanation.

Lucy giggled, figuring that was the reaction she'd get. "Yeah, so the cafeteria lady, Mary, woke me up, and because of my bad conscience, I decided to help them out. Might be doing that in the future too…" She said thoughtfully.

Akashi raised an eyebrow at the girl. "And… That's it?" He asked her, having thought there was some deeper meaning with it all. Maybe he was wrong.

Lucy nodded. "Yep, that's it!" She said with a bright smile. "That means I'll be able to see you guys even in school!" She said happily, while Momoi got off her lap and helped her up.

While the guys had no way to respond to that, the pinkette smiled brightly. "Awesome! That'll make school bearable!" She said excitedly.

Aomine looked thoughtful, standing next to both of them. "True… It would." He said, grinning at the end. "Maybe my absence won't be so high this year." He commented.

Momoi whipped in her childhood friend's direction and slapped his arm quite hard, the way only a girl could do. "It better be!" She demanded.

The redhead's eyes landed on the blonde's exposed arms and legs and noticed something noteworthy. "You seem to have healed from your injuries, Lucy." He said, making Midorima, who was standing next to him, push his glasses up as he noticed what Akashi had.

Lucy looked at her arms and back at Akashi and Midorima with a smile. "Seems I have." She agreed. That was unreal healing, even for her world, surely these guys were suspecting her. Or…. What? "I guess I'm just a fast healer." She said, trying to play the topic off. If ever possible.

The green-haired boy nodded, but didn't say anything. He knew for a fact that Akashi was thinking the same as he was. He didn't know what to make of it or what it meant, but if Lucy had actually healed and not just covered her injuries with makeup, it was far from natural. Even if she had quicker healing than normal people, healing from burns like the ones she'd had in just a few days was too much. But he was sure Lucy just chose to hide them with makeup, as so many other girls chose to do.

No one could say anything else as the coach entered the building. "What are you dopes doing slacking off like this? Go change and run laps for warmup!" He ordered them, making them all scuffle to the changing rooms, leaving the two girl behind giggling at their misfortune. "And does anyone know about Haizaki's whereabouts?!" The coach asked, having not seen the white mop of hair. The whole team shook their heads before disappearing.

The coach turned to the two girls, his eyes settling on the older one of them. He wasn't stupid, he'd already noticed the encouragement and the way her presence simply spurred the boys on to do better and train harder, especially those who had been standing there at the middle of the court. Whether it was simply because she was a girl or because she meant something to all of them already, he didn't know, but he was grateful.

He began walking towards the two girls, effectively drawing their attention from their conversation. "I take it you two were the ones to put all this up?" He asked them, already knowing the answer to his own question.

Momoi smiled and shook her head. "No, no, I didn't have anything do with all this, Lucy did it by herself!" She quickly told the coach, pointing at the blonde, who was feeling a little embarrassed with the attention she knew she'd get from the pinkette's words.

And as she had expected and he had not, the coach looked at the blonde in surprise. "Oh, so you did all this?" He asked her, to which she nodded embarrassedly. The coach gave her a little smile. "Thank you, Lucy, was it?" He asked.

Lucy nodded again. "Lucy Heartfilia, yeah." She confirmed for him.

The man extended his hand towards the girl. "I don't believe we have been formally introduced yet." He commented. He'd only gotten any information about her through what the team had said in the changing rooms, other than that, he knew absolutely nothing about the girl. "I am the coach of the 1st string basketball team, Naoto Sanada. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He told her.

The blonde smiled brightly at him as she took his hand and shook it. "You too!" She said. "I hope you don't mind me watching the training, Sanada-san?" She asked, having quickly figured out they didn't start out with first names, as they did in Fiore, as long as you weren't an aristocrat anyway.

The brown-haired coach shook his head. "No, not at all." Quite on the contrary, he preferred it if she showed up every single time, since she seemed to raise the guys' spirits and through that, they'd become stronger. It was already a very strong team, the one they had this year, and especially the first years showed a lot of promise, and if the presence of a single girl could help them unlock that potential, he didn't care even if she was old and wrinkly.

Lucy smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Sanada-san!" She thanked him, bowing lightly. "I really appreciate it." She thanked him. She hadn't even thought of asking for permission before right then, but now she knew she was allowed to.

Sanada smiled a little smile back. "It's nothing, Lucy." He said honestly. Rather, it was a win-win situation for both sides.

Their conversation was halted when the whole team emerged from the changing rooms, all dressed in their training clothes and ready to begin. While the blonde and the pinkette quickly made their way to the benches, just for the sake of variation, as the boys began running laps first without, then with the ball.

Momoi turned to her blonde senpai sitting next to her. "Wanna help me taking notes on their training today?" She asked her.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Sure, I'd love to!" She said. That way, she would probably learn basketball even more thoroughly and so that she would remember it.

 **An hour later~**

Sanada blew in the whistle, letting its uncomfortably high-pitched sound, stopping any and all motion on the court. "Clean the court and take a bath! Training's over for the day!" He announced, setting them all into motion again. Still with no mop of white hair anywhere in sight.

While they weren't as fast as the 3rd string, they weren't slow either. Almost as if going on autopilot, all the players systematically set something on their places in the tool-room and putting the balls where they belonged in a metal cage with wheels, so Nijimura rolled it into the tool-room at the end.

Momoi turned to Lucy with a smile. "Thank you for your help today, Lucy-chan!" She thanked the girl. Although the girl hadn't been helping much, Momoi had been having fun talking with her. Besides, Momoi could already feel how Lucy had gotten better in just the short duration of the training. There was no telling when the older girl would surpass her. It seemed the blonde was just good at everything.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "I didn't do anything, you did all the work." She laughed. "But it was nice talking with you though, Momoi-chan." She told her.

The pinkette smiled right back at the blonde, a slight blush evident on her cheeks. "Actually, Lucy-chan, won't you use my first name?" She asked of the older girl. She'd been using Lucy's first name for some time now, she felt rude having Lucy run around using her last name. Besides, now was as good a time as any.

The blonde looked at the younger girl with a surprised expression. "What? Really? Can I?" She asked her, feeling honored she was allowed to call her by her first name, it seemed like a big deal in Japan. The girl nodded quickly and eagerly with a bright smile and Lucy threw her arms around her immediately. "Of course, Sat-chan!" She told her. She looked down at the pinkette. "It's all right I call you that, right?" She asked her.

Momoi nodded. "Yeah, I love it!" She said, already loving her new nickname. She got up from her seat, seeing the gym had been left completely empty. "Oh! It seems the guys are already in the changing rooms." She commented. She began walking towards the entrance as she turned around and waved at Lucy with a smile, while keeping her backtracking. "I'll see you afterwards, right?" She asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded. "Of course! I'll stay here." She told the pinkette and waved at her as she disappeared after the boys and left her in the now empty gym.

Looking out over the court she'd been left all alone at, she remembered what she had been so happy about. The fact that she was going to talk with Kozo Shirogane, someone from her own world, who could probably answer some of her many questions about her situation.

She was whipped out of her starting stream of thoughts, when Nijimura emerged from the tool room and muttered curses while jogging towards the changing rooms. "Nijimura!" She yelled while getting off the bench.

Nijimura immediately stopped up, seeing the blonde beauty coming running towards him. He blushed at the sight, and averted his gaze a little. "Y-yeah, what is it?" He asked her, wondering what she could be wanting.

Lucy stopped up in front of him and smiled. "Would you mind leading me to Kozo Shirogane's office?" She asked the captain of the basketball team.

Said captain's eyes widened and he looked at her in confusion. "The head coach? Do you know him?" He asked her.

Lucy figured there was only one Kozo Shirogane, and so nodded. "Well, I met him yesterday while you guys were changing, and we got to talk a little. Apparently he knew my family, so… Yeah." She said with a smile and a bit of a high voice. She'd become better at lying already. Although she did trail off at the end and her voice was too high, but all in all, she'd say it was progress.

Nijimura nodded, surprised with the sudden revelation. "Sure, I'll take you there." He agreed. "Follow me." He told her and gestured for her to follow him as he began walking towards where he knew the head coach's office to be.

She smiled and fell into pace next to him. "Thank you very much, Nijimura!" She thanked the captain. Who smiled back and nodded, then quickly averting his eyes again. Lucy noticed his strange behavior and redder cheeks, which didn't seem to be from having just worked out. "Are you feeling sick?" She asked him, reaching up and putting a hand on the boy's forehead to take his temperature, holding the other over her own for comparison. "You're quite hot, Nijimura." She told him.

Nijimura froze at the sudden closeness of the blonde girl and flinched back. "I-I'm fine, I've just been training." He said, feeling his cheeks heat up again. Why did she make him react like this?

Lucy fell back and looked worriedly at him. "If you're sure…" She trailed off, still wondering if he was really okay, since his head seemed so red. She shook her head and decided she would trust him to tell her, if there was ever anything wrong.

Nijimura stopped up in front of a door. "This is it." He said and nodded to the door. "Can you find your way back or do you want me to come get you?" He asked her, kind of hoping for the latter of the two.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "There's no need, I think I can find my way back now." She told him, not seeing the disappointed expression the boy suddenly wore. "Besides, I get the feeling this conversation might take some time." She confessed.

The black-haired captain nodded in accept of her decision, although he felt a pang of disappointment at it. "All right, I'll see you later then." He said and gave her a wave before beginning his trek back towards the changing rooms.

Lucy suddenly remembered something quite important. "Nijimura!" She called, making the boy turn around and look at her questioningly. "Would you tell Sat-chan where I am if she asks?" She asked the boy.

Nijimura nodded, while wondering when the two got on first-name basis. "Sure, I'll tell her." He said with a little smile as he continued walking.

Lucy smiled and turned to the door. She felt bad for potentially leaving Satsuki behind when she had promised to wait for her, but she could hardly wait to talk to Kozo Shirogane. Maybe he knew something that she really needed to know.

She lifted a hand and knocked on the wooden plank. "Come on in." She heard a muffled voice say from behind it. She grabbed the knob and pushed it down, letting herself into the cozy room, not unlike the one Master Makarov had. She saw him sitting in the chair behind his desk, looking up from his paperwork to see who had come in. His face lit up in a smile when he saw who it was. "Lucy!" He said in a sort of greeting manner and jumped up from his chair.

"Hello, Shirogane-san." She greeted him, letting him guide her to one of the two chairs standing in front of the desk, which he had been sitting behind just a moment ago.

Shirogane laughed and placed himself back in the chair. "Please just call me Kozo, I'm from Earthland, not Earth." He told her, dismissing her polite way with words. "Now then, would you mind showing me your keys once again?" He asked her. The other day he'd simply just seen she had many keys, both gold and silver, but he had not seen which they were and ever since he'd found himself quite curious to know.

Lucy smiled and nodded, pulling her keys out of her pouch. "Yes, of course." She said and put her keys out on the desk. "I have Nikora, Crux, Lyra and Horologium of the silver keys, as well as Aquarius, Cancer, Taurus, Virgo and Leo of the Zodiac keys." She said and smiled at the older man.

The man leaned a little forward as he studied all of her keys, taking extra note of the five golden keys. "This is quite impressive, Lucy. So many gold keys all collected at one place." He commented. He, just like any other Celestial mage, had always wanted and wished for the Zodiac keys. They were the strongest after all.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm fortunate to have so many friends with me." She said and looked tenderly at the nine keys lying in front of her.

Kozo, eyeing the blonde's gaze, smiled softly. "I see." He said, drawing her attention. "It is only right a kindhearted soul such as you would own so many precious keys." He told her. She didn't refer to them as Spirits, they were friends to her. She was the ideal summoner, how everyone should be.

Lucy blushed a bit in embarrassment at the praise. She wasn't used to receiving such praise after all. "Y-yeah, I guess." She said with an a bit higher tone than what she usually used.

Kozo chuckled at her embarrassment. "Now then, child, what is it you wish to ask me?" He asked her, knowing she would have many questions to ask him, he would have had too, had he been in her position.

Lucy nodded, adopting a more serious expression. "Yeah, I have a lot of questions I need answered, Kozo-san." She said and with Kozo's saying gaze, she corrected herself. "Kozo." He nodded and gestured for her to begin asking. "First off you're a Celestial mage, right?" She asked him.

The elder man nodded. "Yes, that's correct. I'm a Celestial mage and own the Angel and the Demon." He confirmed her. Those were the only two keys he had owned his entire life and he intended to do so until he died as well.

The blonde nodded, having figured that out long ago. "And you're from my world?" She asked for clarification. The man on the other side of the desk nodded in agreement, although looking a little confused as to why she would ask something he had already told her. "Then why are you here? Why are the Angel and the Demon here?" She asked quickly one after another.

Kozo sighed, but with a little smile. "Let me start from the beginning, that will make it easier to understand I think." He said and held a little pause. "Well, it started back when I was at my guild, Phoenix Grave, developing my magic." He told her, clasping his hands together in front of him as his memories flashed through his mind once again. "As so many other Celestial mages, I did not get much appreciation of my magic, as it is not the strongest of magic out there, but because of that I trained harder than anyone else with my two Spirits and - to use your words - friends." He said.

The blonde Celestial mage leaned forward in her seat, listening intently to what her fellow Celestial mage had to say and recognizing the situation he had been in. That was as close as it got to the situation she was about to go into. Because her magic wasn't as fight-based as Caster magic was and she knew she wasn't so useful in battles, she wanted to get stronger. Miraculously, she'd gotten Gajeel to agree with training her, she still were a little surprised it worked.

Kozo, unaware of the thoughts, continued his explanation undeterred. "One day, I passed out during a mission, only a split second, really." He said, once again gaining Lucy's undivided attention. "The words I were given were _Shirogane_ and _acceptance_." He told her. "After pondering about it all day, I fell asleep at home in the evening, but woke up somewhere completely unrelated." He tipped his head up, looking at Lucy again. "I believe it's quite important to know my real last name is not 'Shirogane'." He said.

The girl looked at him with a deadpan expression, before she exploded. "WHAT?!" She asked loudly. It you ever changed your last name, from her understanding, it was usually the woman changing her last name to that of her husband's, not the other way around.

The white-haired man smiled. "I know, usually it's the other way around, but because my name is nothing like the ones you find around here, I took my wife's name." He said with a little laugh. "Of course, that doesn't mean I got rid of it either, I just don't use it. Kozo Alteria Shirogane is my full name." He told her.

Lucy tilted her head and smiled at him. "That's a beautiful name, Kozo. Alteria." She told him, tasting the name in her own mouth. It just sounded graceful somehow.

Kozo smiled at her. "Why, thank you, child." He thanked her. "Either way, to get back on topic, of course, I woke up on Earth, just as you have." He said, getting back to where he had left off with his story. "Unlike what yours probably will be, my experiences here didn't have much to do basketball before I got a little older." He told her. "Instead, I found a girl, who instantly discovered my secret, her name was Haruhi Shirogane, and as I'm sure you figured out, she's also the girl I married." He said with a fond smile.

Lucy smiled, her inner writer loving the happy ending, which had happened in real life. "What's she like?" She asked curiously.

Kozo laughed. "Oh, you'll just make me sound cheesy, dear." He said. The determined look she gave him made him give up on not telling her. "She's simply the most wonderful woman I have ever met. She's beautiful, clever and has the kindest soul I have ever encountered in my now quite long life. She's nothing short of perfect." He told the younger blonde with a dreamy expression in his eyes. "She had always been a believer of the unnatural and as such, she easily accepted me and Earthland." He said.

Lucy smiled at the old man, happy he'd met someone like her, who he'd shared so much of his life with. And someone who accepted him and believed that he was from another world.

"Of course, she thought my magic was, to use you youngsters' term, 'cool' even though it took me several years before I could even get one key to glow. She was the first who truly accepted me and didn't think I was weak, as so many others did. Quite on the contrary, actually." He said and smiled a little, sad smile. "It didn't take long before I loved her, of course, and then that was when it happened…" He said and stopped talking completely.

After a second of silence, Lucy tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows, looking worriedly at the elder man. "That was when what happened?" She asked hesitantly, wondering what had made the man wear such a sad expression. Somehow, she knew it was important, that it was probably what he had wanted to tell her from the beginning.

Kozo put his hands up in front of his face, clasped together and stuck in a thoughtful expression, as if he was wondering if he should even tell her. Finally, he spoke up. "I wished I could stay here forever." He muttered, barely audible through his hands.

Lucy's furrowed eyebrows deepened further as her confusion grew. "How is that bad? Isn't it wonderful you found someone you love so much that you wanted to stay there forever? What's wrong with that?" She asked him. She had never heard of anything so wonderful, why did he wear such a sad expression.

He shook his head. "It's not that there's anything wrong with wanting to be with the one you love, nothing at all." He told her, the sadness never leaving his voice. "It was because I wished it, I said out loud that I wished it, and somehow, that triggered something." He explained and held a break, drawing in a breath to calm himself. Lucy waited patiently for the man to be ready to tell her whatever was so hard for him to tell her. "I got stuck here." He then finally said.

Her confusion skyrocketed and she just looked at him with wide eyes. "Y-you mean..? What?" She asked, not even able to make up the sentences in her own mind.

He nodded. "Yes, ever since I wished that, I've stayed here always. No matter how many times I fall asleep, I still wake up seeing the same ceiling as the one I saw when I closed my eyes." He said. He looked up at the girl in front of him. "That's what I want to tell you, most of all, be wary of what you say, one simple sentence will change your life forever." He said.

Lucy looked down at her hands. Of course, something as amazing as this would have a catch. Of course it wasn't as perfect as it seemed, that was unrealistic. One single sentence, one simple mistake would take her away from her family, her friends, the people most precious to her. She would lose it all. She would hardly be able to see her Spirits. Wait… Not only that.

As it seemed Kozo had owned the Angel and the Demon, brought them to Earth when he wished to stay, and then they had disappeared. If she disappeared… Did it mean her keys' constellations would disappear too? Did it mean no one could ever own them back at Earthland after her? That would mean… They'd become myths, stories no one believed, after just a few years. It would be like they had never existed anyway. Plue, Horologium, Lyra, Crux, Loke, Virgo, Taurus, Aquarius, Cancer… They would never see Earthland again, they would never fight or use their powers again. And most of all, they would hardly ever be called out.

It took Kozo several years before he could simply make one of his silver keys glow. Who was to say it wouldn't be the same for her? Even if she trained and practiced all she could, it would still take so, so long before she would be able to just call out Plue. What if she would never be able to call out the Zodiac? Would they just have to stay there forever?

No. She wouldn't force them into that kind of fate. She would never pick one over the other, it was wrong, and it would have consequences far worse than what it meant for her. It meant she would make her friends hurt at the loss of her and she would force her Spirits into possibly never seeing anything other than Spirit World again, they would probably ever be able to use their magic again. She couldn't do that, I wasn't something she could do to them.

But it wouldn't ever happen. Even if she loved the team here, on Earth, Fairy Tail was her family, the people she loved the most, they saved her from her father and loneliness, she wouldn't leave them like that.

Lucy looked up at the man in front of her. "Thank you for telling me, Kozo. I will be very careful with what I say." She promised him.

Kozo nodded. "You're welcome, it is important you know as soon as possible after all." He said with a tiny smile. "So you don't make the mistake I did." He told her. Lucy returned the smile, but for a moment, the silence was pregnant between them. "So, child, who taught you your magic?" He asked her, the tense silence was hardly bearable.

Lucy smiled a radiating, bright smile. "That would be my mom, Layla Heartfilia." She told him, not noticing the change in the man across her. "People say I look a lot like her, but I don't see it." She smiled and tilted her head.

Kozo's eyes widened at that information. So it was right, then… He looked up at the blonde. "I'm sorry Lucy, it would seem I need some time to myself, if you wouldn't mind." He told her, feeling memories from his past starting to build up inside him.

She looked at the man sitting in front of him, seeing the conflicted expression he wore, she stood up and bowed a little. "Thank you for telling me all this, and letting me know I'm not the only one from Earthland, I really appreciate it." She said and began walking towards the door, giving the man a wave over her shoulder. "See you later, Kozo." She said with a smile. She knew she had probably wretched open closed scars, letting his memories go all loose through their conversation, she figured he needed some alone-time to grieve the loss of his old nakama.

He looked up at her just before she closed the door. "Lucy." He called out to her, making her turn at the door. "If you need to talk to someone about all this, don't hesitate to come to me." He said with a little smile.

Lucy's face lit up in a bright smile. "Thank you again, Kozo! I will!" She said and finally went out, leaving the gray-haired man behind in his chair. Right as she closed the door, a wave of groggy dizziness fell over her and she fell down on the floor, falling asleep on the floor.

Kozo heard the thump from the other side of the door, and saw the flash of gold under it, then fell down in said chair and dropped his head to his hand. He immediately felt two familiar presences beside him, one putting a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at Angelis, his Angel Spirit, who was smiling a sad smile at him. "Angelis…" He muttered to her, feeling comfort in her light touch.

She kept on smiling. "Isn't it wonderful? You know someone like you, you know _she's_ all right." She asked, her light voice ringing soothingly in the empty room. "You just need to help her through this." She encouraged him.

The other Spirit grunted and readjusted his wings. "Tch, prevent her from making any stupid moves like you, old man." He told his summoner. "Besides, don't you think you should tell her _that_ too?" He asked him.

Kozo looked up at his other Spirit, the Demon, Daemon. "I can't, not yet. She isn't ready to learn of that yet, she wouldn't understand." He told his Spirit. Telling her _that_ was too much for her. It was a big bomb after all. But still, he was a ticking bomb himself, and he had no idea how long he had left. All he knew was that it couldn't be more than a few years, probably not even five. He had to tell her before then, before there was no time left.

The Demon shrugged. "Whatever you say, old man." He said.

 **And we're leaving it off there, ain't it perfect? I think I did quite well, explaining some things while keeping others a mystery. Although, what's up with Kozo's reaction? And what didn't he tell Lucy? Who knows~**

 **So, if you haven't guessed already, the Demon and the Angel, Daemon and Angelis, are from my other story Acnologia, my Childhood Friend. They honestly didn't get much screen-time there, so I'm adding them here ^_^**

 **Amazing thing I just want to point out, THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS AND FOLLOWERS IS THE SAME, 62! Woooo! Coincidence? I think not. ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED!**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you liked it, and thank you to all of you who reads, favorites, follows and reviews! I love y'all!**

 **~Line464d**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Ahh, back at Earthland after all this drama and mystery on Earth. Isn't it wonderful?  
Favorites are exactly on 50! Yaaaayyyyy~! ^_^**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: I feel like no one actually reads these, but either way, I'm still working on the case of getting the two stories though. I'm getting there, I believe…. Someday.**

 **At Earthland~**

Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she looked around with blurry sight. She wasn't lying on her bed, that was for sure. Groggily, she stated she'd been lying on the floor.

"Ah, she's awake now." She heard someone say. She knew it was familiar, but couldn't place it right at that moment, the drowsiness fogging her mind.

She blinked a few times, clearing her vision enough to could see again and sat up as she looked around, trying to find the one who had spoken. At the couch, Gray and Erza were sitting and had probably been in some sort of conversation, while Natsu was snoring loudly next to her with Happy lying on his stomach.

Gray smirked. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Lucy." He said. She wondered how long those guys had been waiting for her to return and wake up.

Erza smiled at her as well. "I'm glad to see you've returned." The redhead said as the blonde placed herself on one of the chairs, doing her best not to take notice of the Fire Dragon Slayer's loud sleeping.

Lucy rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Good morning you two, what's the clock?" She asked them, having lost all sense of time.

Gray looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's about 9 AM." He said and looked back at the blonde. "So, did you meat that old guy? Kozo Shirogame?" He asked her, remembering she'd told them that was what she was going to do if she got the chance the other day.

Erza looked sternly at Gray. "Kozo Shirogane, didn't you learn anything yesterday? Or shall we take another trip to the library?" She asked him. Seeing as the Ice Make mage rolled his eyes in exasperation, she turned her attention to the blonde, seeing she was sitting with her head bowed down. Erza furrowed her eyebrows and looked at said blonde with a worried gaze. "Lucy? What's wrong?" She asked her.

Lucy sighed and looked up. "Yeah, I did meet him and I did speak with him." She muttered. How should she tell them this? She knew they'd tell her to just stay away from Earth and never go back there. But it wasn't something she could control.

Now Gray was worried too. It was obvious it was something she had a hard time telling them, what could it be? "Just tell us, Lucy, we can take it, whatever it is." He promised her. What could be so bad she couldn't even tell them? Her best friends and team?

Lucy hesitated for a moment before making her decision. "We were right in our assumption that he was a Celestial mage just like me, and apparently he was from the guild Phoenix Grave, back when he was a part of this world." She said.

Erza quickly noticed the author's choice of words. "Back when he was part of this world?" She asked the blonde. "Lucy, what are you trying to tell us?" She asked the other girl.

Lucy cast her eyes down to her hands. She had already made her decision, now it was just to follow it. "He, Kozo, is stuck on Earth." She finally said. She couldn't lie to her friends, not even if she wanted to. She was such a bad liar, and she knew these guys knew her too well to not see when she was attempting to trick them. Before they could say anything, she continued her explanation. "He found a girl he loved there and…" She paused, suddenly realizing she was giving her friends the life-story of someone else. She hadn't even gotten the permission to tell others, it was his personal business he'd shared so graciously to her, and now she was so easily telling it to her friends. It felt wrong… But now she couldn't stop, she had to tell them the truth. "He wished he could stay there, with her, forever." She said, closing her eyes, as if her eyelids could protect her against showing all the guilt she felt from revealing Kozo's secrets.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to figure out what Lucy's last sentence had meant. "What's so bad about that?" He asked. He knew there was something about what she'd said, she'd put it in a way that clearly showed it was the very point of the whole story.

Lucy sighed, but with a little smile. "That's exactly what I asked him." She admitted, looking up at the two of them with the saddest pair of eyes they had ever seen her wear. "His wish was fulfilled." She simply said.

Erza perked up at this. "Am I right in assuming that that was when he got stuck there?" The redhead asked the blonde. The blonde nodded affirmatively. The redhead sighed and cupped her chin between her thumb and index finger. "I see." She mumbled, thinking about what the blonde had told her.

Lucy jumped a little where she sat, when she felt two arms land around her shoulders and the top of salmon hair she'd become so familiar with entering the edge of her vision. "You wouldn't ever do that." The low grumble of Natsu's drowsy voice said. "Right, Luce?" he asked for confirmation as Happy landed on her lap, rubbing his eyes with a yawn and a nod.

Lucy smiled and nodded, leaning a little back into Natsu. "Not if I have a say in it, I can promise you that much, Natsu." She promised him and looked at the other two. "And the two of you too." She said and gently stroke Happy's blue fur. "No matter what that basketball team will do to me, and although I feel mean for saying this, they will never be as important to me as you guys." She said with a soft smile and a hand on one of the Dragon Slayer's arms.

The team, at least the two out of four she could see, smiled at her with genuine love and care showing in their eyes, reflecting the feelings she was sending them right back at her, mixed with the gratitude they felt for her presence and words. They knew Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without her.

The blonde felt Natsu's arms slip off around her, as he fell to the floor in a snoring heap. Lucy giggled at him and shook her head. Guess he'd been half asleep, having only half woken up to get an answer to that single question.

Gray snorted. "Idiot. He even wakes up in a half-assed way." He said, got to his feet, and began nudging non-so gently to his rival and friend. "Wake up, moron." He grunted.

Erza sighed and shook her head, looking at the blonde. "Lucy." She said, drawing the other girl's attention. "Thank you for telling us this, it must not have been easy for you." She said with a little smile. She knew the girl felt horrible for revealing another person's life story, which was only confirmed when she cut it short in the end. "What about you go take your daily morning-bath and then, when you are ready, we'll go to Phoenix Grave, in Statis town, and ask around about Kozo there, find out more about the circumstances." She suggested. When Lucy made a face as if it irked her, digging into someone else's past, much less someone she'd begun to get to know. Erza smiled again. "Don't worry, we won't go into his personal business, just find out whether everything is as it is with you." She said.

Lucy nodded hesitantly. Maybe they could find an old friend of his, who could tell them something about it all from an outsider's point of view. She stood up and smiled at Erza. "Yeah, thank you. I'll take a quick bath, then I can make some breakfast for us before we leave." She suggested. The redhead gave her an affirmative nod and so the blonde entered her bathroom.

She quickly threw off her clothes, after turning on the water, as she had the other days, and began taking off her bandages, curious to see how much she had healed since she checked the other day. Faintly noting that it didn't hurt at all to remove them.

She looked up, at herself in the mirror, seeing that the skin of her stomach had straightened out almost completely now and just looked like an angry, red mark. She gingerly reached down and touched the sensitive skin. As she thought, it was nothing more than sensitive, although she would have to be a little bit careful with it. Nothing special though, it was like a new, really big, scrape, the ones you always got on your knees as a kid. Aristocrat or not.

Tomorrow she was probably healed enough for Gajeel to accept the start of her training. She smiled at the thought, finally she could get started. She had no idea what the black-haired Iron Slayer had in store for her. Even if it was going to get rough, which she was sure it would, she was looking forward to it.

But for now, she should just focus on the fact that maybe, she could meet one of Kozo's friends and maybe that friend could tell her what Kozo hadn't.

 **Later~**

"Shall I knock him out?" Erza asked Lucy, referring to the pitiful creature gagging and sweating as he lay on the blonde's lap, making miserably sounds of pain.

Gray crossed his arms and scowled at the weakling, which was supposedly his rival. "Why do you even have to ask? He's a pain to listen to." The Ice Make mage grumbled exasperatedly.

Lucy sweat dropped when she felt Natsu's whole body tense before he gagged, only wheezing out air. "Maybe that would be best for him…" She admitted. The poor guy really seemed to be suffering right at that moment. She figured it was because he'd eaten so much this morning. Although he always did, usually there'd be a little time in between eating and going on the train. The fact that they didn't waste any time today only promoted his nausea it seemed.

Erza nodded once, standing up in her seat as she began cracking her knuckles. "All right then, I will relieve you of this burden, Lucy." She said, glaring down at Natsu through the shadows of her bangs. The surrounding area around her person turned a dark purple and death loomed in the air around her.

Not only did Natsu's sweating get worse, the blonde also feared for her life. She couldn't remember having this Erza pointed towards her before, now she understood why Gray and Natsu were so obedient with her. Maybe she should develop her own demon side a little more…

Happy saw the redheaded knight's killer intent and quickly jumped up on top of Natsu, spreading his paws out to each side. "No! Don't kill Natsu, Erza!" He told her, his legs trembling in fear at the demon facing him. "Who else will give me my fish?" He asked her, tears building up in his eyes already. If he couldn't get fish… Then what reason was there for him to live?

Lucy smiled and patted the cat's head. "Don't worry, Happy. I'll always have fish for you." She promised him. Since joining Fairy Tail, there wasn't a moment in time she could remember, in which she didn't have a fish in her fridge waiting for the blue cat.

Happy turned and beamed at the blonde. "Promise?" He asked her, tears once again brimming at his eyes, this time of joy though. The blonde nodded at the cat, her smile never wavering. "Lushy.." He muttered and turned to the demon, folding his wings out, shrugging. "You can do what you want, demon." He said and flew back to the back of the seat, giving Erza permission to do whatever she liked with Natsu.

"Tr… Trait… Traitor…!" Natsu barely managed to mutter out between waves of nausea.

Gray snorted at him. "Tough being useless, huh?" He taunted the dying Fire Dragon Slayer, having and immense amount of amusement watching him suffer like that, while at the same time being annoyed with it.

Meanwhile, Erza's demon turned on full power again, her teeth sharpening to fangs. "Well then…" She muttered, before rocketing her armored fist down on Natsu, knocking him out instantly. She roughly pulled him up and threw him to the other side of his and Lucy's seat, making him fly into the wall and then fall down. She brushed her hands ostentatiously in front of her, having finished her task, and placed herself back on the seat.

Lucy sweat dropped and smiled nervously at the knight. "Thank you, Erza." She thanked the S-Class, not sure the last part had been necessary.

Erza shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "It is my pleasure to be able to help you, Lucy."

 **In Statis town~**

The train screeched to a stop and the speakers announced their arrival at Arum town. It was a little one, at the size of Oshibana town, maybe a little smaller, lying a little away from Clover town, the train-ride took a few hours in all.

The team stood up and quickly made it out of the train, picking up their luggage and beginning to walk towards town, when Gray broke the silence which had been reining between all of them. "Say, guys… Isn't it kind of silent here?" He asked them, getting a nod from each of them, while they all looked expectantly at him to hear what else he had in mind. "I don't know about you, but I kinda feel like I forgot something…" He said and scratched his head in thought.

They all delved into their thoughts and wondered where this feeling of having forgotten something came from. That's when Happy's eyes widened and he sped off back towards the train station, the distant sound of his disappearing voice reaching them. "NAAAAATSUUUUUUUU!"

Oh, so it was Natsu they'd forgotten… Wait what?! They all began running like crazy to reach the station before the train took off again. Running like the wind, they reached train station just in time to see the train starting and rolling out of the station. They could just barely see a blob of a human hanging out of the train's window with one arm, looking like he was in serious pain.

Lucy put a hand up on her forehead, shadowing for the sun so she could see. "Huh? Isn't that Natsu? It's so far away I can't tell." She said, squinting her eyes for better sight.

Gray crossed his arms and snort-grunted. A mix of laughing and trying to hold it in. "Oh, what a shame, we didn't make it." He said and turned around, walking back where they'd come from. "Guess we'll just have to continue on without him." He said almost happily.

Erza stopped him effectively, grabbing the chain of the necklace he was always wearing, even if he stripped completely bare, as he had now, stopping and stealing the air away from him effectively. "I appreciate the blissful silence as well, Gray." She reassured him, sounding fairly normal. Then she turned her head and glared at the Ice Make mage. "But Fairy Tail never leaves their Nakama behind, you know that." She growled at him, almost making him pee in the pants he weren't wearing.

Happy looked up at Erza with eyes full of tears. "Erzaaaaa~" He called the team leader. "What do we do?" He whined, sniffing cutely.

Erza pointed determinedly at the leaving train. "Happy!" She called the blue cat, stopping his sniffing. "Fly to Natsu and haul him out of the window!" She demanded and knelt down to him, putting a heavy hand on his tiny shoulder, looking straight into his big eyes. "You're the only one who can do this Happy. Do it for Natsu's sake." She told the cat.

Happy nodded with a determined expression. "Aye sir!" He said and spread his wings out once again. "I will get him back, I swear!" He reassured them and took off, flying much faster than the train as he tried to catch up to it.

Lucy sighed and face-palmed, closing her eyes. "What have I done to deserve this? Why did I get the eccentrics of eccentrics?" She asked herself in a mutter.

Gray smirked at her. "Oh come on now, Lucy. You know you love us." He said and threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning widely.

Lucy smiled and laughed. "Of course I do, how could I not?" She asked them. Just within these last few days, they'd shown kindness the likes of which, if you asked her year ago, she had never thought possible for her to experience or others to give.

Gray laughed. "Damn straight." He said and nudged her a little. "And ditto from our side as well." He told her with a genuine smile, before he looked up to see the cat having finally brought the pink-haired blob of a mage. "Oi shithead, tell us next time. This shit's annoying!" He told Natsu.

This made the Fire Dragon Slayer perk up, and he immediately raised a fist covered in flames. "Tryin' to pick a fight, Popsicle?" He asked him with an excited glare. Even the fire seemed like it was dancing around his fist eagerly, way past ready to beat the Ice Make mage up.

Gray grunted and lowered his stance, slamming his hands together in the usual Ice Make way. "Sure as hell am, Fire Breath." He promised his rival.

Erza turned around and began walking, not paying any mind to the two boys' usual bantering. "Let's go, we need to get to Phoenix Grave." She said. And while Lucy and Happy followed her, the two boys hadn't heard her at all, having engaged in a very 'mature' name-calling contest.

The three didn't have to walk - or fly - for long, before they saw the big building, although not as extravagant as their own guild building, which was the guild they'd been looking for. A red insignia looking like that of a bird with big wings circling around it sat on the wall above the big doors.

They stopped up in front of the entrance. "So… This is it?" Lucy asked slowly. It was kind of like it hadn't seeped into her head that she was probably going to actually meet someone who could maybe give her some answers. As so many other things had been the past few days, it was surreal.

They didn't get any further when two pairs of footsteps came running towards them. Both girls and cat turned around and looked at their two teammates. "What the heck, guys? You could've at least told us you went off!" Gray scowled at them, trying not to show how exhausted he really was.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Natsu raged, fire sprouting out of his mouth, his eyes having whitened and transformed to sharp triangles.

Gray play-gagged next to the pink-haired Slayer. "Me? The same opinion as you?" He asked the guy, who was looking back at him confusedly. "Argh, that's disgusting!" He said, play-gagging again.

This just made Natsu rage even further, as he and his rival went into another bout of fighting. Lucy turned and looked at Erza with a worried gaze. "Shouldn't we stop them?" She asked. There were several reasons for this, the first being she didn't want the two of them to beat each other up, the other being they already had minor wounds and bruises all over. The last one was that it was embarrassing they always were so immature and always got into fights, it wasn't the ideal first impression to give another guild. They needed to be more professional, at least as much as possible, especially since they were the strongest guild on the continent.

Erza sighed and nodded, catching on to what Lucy was indirectly saying. She marched up next to the boys, who were angrily butting heads. Without a word, she grabbed each of their hair, pulled back, only to smash their heads together violently, making the fall to the ground instantly. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FIGHTING?!" She yelled at them.

The two, despite having just been knocked unconscious, shot straight up, doing a salute, throwing the other arm around each other's shoulders. "WE'LL NEVER FIGHT AGAIN! AYE SIR!" They replied loudly.

Lucy sighed in defeat when the doors to the guild opened up, revealing an annoyed-looking young man with auburn hair pulled roughly back. His eyes were a burning amber, quite beautiful if Lucy had to say anything.

He looked around at all five of them. "What the hell's all the ruckus out here?" He asked, his voice cutting through the air as sharply as Erza's did most of the time.

Erza turned and looked at the man. She stared at him for a moment, before she began marching towards him, for a moment making him flinch at the air she was giving off. She extended her armored hand towards him in a greeting. "Hello, I am Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail and this is my team." She introduced herself and gestured to the rest of Team Natsu. "Am I correct in assuming I reached Phoenix Grave?" She asked him.

He paused for a moment, before he took her hand. "Fairy Tail, eh?" He asked rhetorically, adopting a scowl. "Tch, you don't look so tough after all." He said and pulled his hand out of hers, 'discretely' wiping it in his pants.

Lucy gasped. "No! Don't-"

She was cut off when Erza picked the guy up by the collar, lifting him up from the ground easily. "I said." She snarled calmly. "Have we reached Phoenix Grave?" She asked him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, what do you think? Are you stupid or something?" He asked her spitefully. "I guess you 'top dogs' just don't care about us, the underdogs, but-" Now he was the one to cut off, when he suddenly passed out with a flash of stinging pain erupting from his forehead.

Erza threw the guy over her shoulder, towards the two other guys of their team. "Pick him up and follow me." She ordered and marched towards the doors.

The blonde looked over to the two boys as all three exchanged gazes, while Happy was staring off into space. Probably dreaming about fish. In the end, Natsu ended up picking the auburn-haired guy up and dragging him after him towards the guild doors. The three others quickly followed after them, wondering how the guild would react to seeing their unconscious teammate. If it had been Fairy Tail… Well, certain death.

Erza opened the door up, a little bit roughly, but still considerably civilized, compared to what they could sometimes do back at their own guild. Their sudden and loud arrival drew a lot of attention, as intended.

One member shot up from his seat, seeing the unconscious mage hanging from Natsu's shoulders. He was around Macao and Wakaba's age, had dark brown hair with strands of gray and light brown eyes. "What happened here?" He asked, eyeing the mages. That's when he recognized the faces and insignias. He sighed deeply. "Ah, I see." He simply said and approached Natsu. "Let me take him." He offered and let the guy hang from his shoulder, just as he had Natsu's a moment ago. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience he brought you." He said with a long sigh.

Erza was about to say something, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and the smiling face of her blonde teammate entered her peripheral. "It's no problem at all!" She promised him. "Although it would be nice to know why he attacked us like that." She told him, tilting her head innocently.

The man's eyes widened. "He attacked you?" He asked alarmed.

"Verbally." Erza confirmed for him with a nod, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She was curious about this boy's apparent hatred towards them as well. It was unusual for light guilds to attack - to use Lucy's words - each other like that.

The man visibly relaxed in relief. "Right, I'm sorry again." He said and gestured with his hand to follow him. "Please, follow me." He told the mages and began walking towards one of the tables.

Lucy had noticed all the stares the five of them had gotten since entering the building and the whispers. Although it was first now she could hear them. "Look! It's Fairy Tail! That's Titania, and that's the Salamader! Oh, and that's that awesome Ice Make mage, Gray!" Some said excitedly. Lucy smiled. Fairy Tail really was widely known, it seemed every single guild knew of them. "Who's that blonde chick?" One asked, making Lucy's happiness drop instantly. "And that blue cat too? Just tagalongs?" They kept asking.

The blonde barely managed to catch happy, who came flying right into her with tears flying in every direction. "Lushy! They don't know us!" The cat whined desperately.

Lucy remained calm and collected, on the outside anyway. On the inside, she was crying as much, if not more than the cat currently was. "I know, Happy. I know." She muttered. Just another sign she didn't shine as brightly as her team, wasn't known at all, it seemed. At least she weren't alone.

"Idiot! That cat is the Salamander's best friend and partner!" One commented. With these words, the waterworks were broken down inside of Lucy and they flowed in rivers down her cheeks. She was all alone after all.

"Disgusting." Happy said, releasing himself from Lucy's hold, beginning to brush himself off. "Being touched by a nobody like you, eww~" He sang teasingly.

The blonde growled at the cat. "So were you just a second ago!" She reminded the cat, who just shrugged at her and landed on Natsu's shoulder, leaving Lucy to herself.

Lucy cut the tears off and steeled her determination. All this did was show her just how much she actually needed that Iron Dragon's training and guidance. Without it, she would always remain a 'nobody' like she was now.

The group made it to a table, where the man put the guy down on one seat and placed himself on the one next to it. He gestured for the Fairy Tail mages to sit down, and they quickly did, sitting around the table and drawing all the attention.

When the man remained silent, Gray gestured to the unconscious mage. "Okay, so why the heck was that guy so rude back there?" He finally asked, his patience having finally run out. Not that he was a very patient person to begin with, really.

The older man sighed for the umpteenth time since they met him and looked at the younger man. "He, Phoenik Kasai, has a very strong sense of justice." He said and looked back at them. "And is quite arrogant and has a hot temper on top of that too." He said and made the rest of them sweat drop at the contrast. "He's always… I wouldn't say hated, but you get the picture, the big guilds; Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus… Fairy Tail most of all. He feels you stronger guilds are unworthy of your titles, says you haven't proven yourself." He said. He suddenly jolted up and quickly started shaking his head. "Of course, this is only his meaning! The general-"

Erza cut him off with a shake of her head. "No, your friend is quite right, mr.…?" She trailed off, realizing she hadn't gotten his name yet.

"I'm Aydahar Kasai, Phoenik's father." He introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." He said, bowing his head, as that was all he could do in his seat.

The redhead smiled and nodded. "The pleasure is all ours." She told him. "As I was saying, your son is completely right." She said, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her knuckles. "We have done nothing to earn the title, we only keep it through our affinity with destruction." She said, making most in the room sweat drop. "I will talk to master about this, it is only fair that we prove ourselves and you get a chance as well." She said and nodded her head.

Aydahar smiled a teary-eyed smile and was probably about to say something, when Phoenix slammed his hand down on the table. "About damn time!" He growled loudly. That was when his father hit him in the back of his head. "OW!" He snapped, glaring at his father.

The father glared right back at him. "Try being a bit grateful for once in your life!" He replied to his son, before turning to the Fairy Tail mages, who was sitting kind of awkwardly at the sidelines. "Anyway, this is not the reason you came here, I'm sure?" He asked the four young people.

Natsu grinned and shook his head. "That's right, old man!" He said, making the man a little confused at first, wondering whether that was an insult or what it was. "We're here searching for a friend of this guy who was once one of your nakama!" He said, sounding overly excited about the whole thing. Although, he weren't the only one, a certain blonde was feeling her anxiety rise as well.

Aydahar furrowed his eyebrows at the words, feeling his interest and confusion grow. "Hmm, maybe I can help, I've been in this guild my whole life after all." He said, his pride shining through in his voice. "What is the name of this guy, whose friend you're looking for?" He asked.

Lucy smiled, feeling it was her turn to say something. "His name is Kozo Shirogane. Do you know him?" She asked Aydahar.

The older man tapped his chin in wonder. "Hmm… No, it doesn't make any bells ring, I'm afraid." He said and shot them an apologetic gaze.

Just as they were about to let the disappointment at their failure at finding a clue about the whole thing overwhelm them, a chair scraped against the floor. "Was it Kozo Shirogane you said?" An elder man asked from the table a few rows away from them.

Lucy turned around and faced the man, who seemed to be around the eighties, with stark white hair and dark, black eyes. She smiled nodded. "Yes, Kozo Alteria Shirogane, do you know him?" She asked, remembering the name they'd probably remember him by was his middle one.

The old man stood stunned and stared at the mages for a moment, before he slowly nodded. "Yes… Yes I do." He said and began walking towards their table, the eyes of everyone present in the guild on him. He sat down at the last free seat at the table and looked at the blonde. "He was my good friend back in the day." He said and looked around at all of them. "If you don't mind me asking, lasses and lads, where did you find out about him?" The old man asked.

Lucy nervously fidgeted with her hands under the table, feeling all eyes on her, wondering if this really had been the right decision after all.

The Knight put an armored hand on her shoulder and nodded, signifying for the blonde it was okay. Lucy nodded back and gave the old man a weak smile, pretty sure what she was about to tell him would affect him one way or another. "I… I know it sounds crazy, but…" She trailed off, before convincing herself it was really all right and something she needed to do. She determinedly met the old man's dark eyes. "I met him." She finally said, her fidgeting having completely stopped.

The old man's eyes widened widely, so much the others worried if they would pop out of their sockets if he continued widening them. "W-wh… You met him, you say?" He asked again for clarification. Lucy nodded. "That's impossible." The man whispered under his breath, tears gathering in his eyes. So that old fool was still alive and well? "Please, child, tell me he is okay." He pleaded with her.

Lucy nodded and smiled widely. "Of course he is!" She told him matter-of-factly. At least… That was the impression she got from him, he didn't seem like he was feeling bad, if you didn't count the fact he was so sad when his memories were brought up. And she didn't count that. "He's in his fifties now, I think. Is married and probably has children too, that's where 'Shirogane' comes from."

She smiled softly when she saw the emotions displayed on the old man's wrinkly face, first there was a little confused, then that was quickly replaced by relief and happiness. He looked way, way beyond 'just' relieved and happy to hear his old friend was still going strong, even in another world. While Lucy didn't know how old Kozo had been when he got stuck there, she could imagine he was somewhat young. She just kind of got that impression when he spoke and explained.

After a short moment, the old man had himself calmed down a little, although he couldn't not let his relief shine through. He looked at the blonde girl. "I take it you're the one, who has met him?" He asked her. She was the one talking presently, the others, even the red-haired who seemed like the leader of the five, let her do the speaking.

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Yeah." She confirmed for him. "I was thinking… Maybe you know something about it all? Like, when he… Well, you know… travelled between Earth and Earthland and such?" She asked.

The old man nodded with a smile, happy to meet someone who he could talk to and help. "Yes, of course, dear. I would love to help you any way I can." He reassured her. He wouldn't say he was an expert on the area, not at all, but he knew what Kozo had told him back in the day and some on top of that. The real test was whether he could pull it out from his aged memory, it wasn't unlikely he had lost at least some parts of it. Hopefully they weren't the most important parts.

Before Lucy could begin questioning the man, Phoenik slammed his hand down on the table - again - and glared at them all. "Someone better explain this conversation to me, Jiji! Right now!" He told them, getting more annoyed by the second at being left out. "OW!" He snapped - again - when his father hit the back of his head - again.

Aydahar gave his boy a fatherly scolding look, then turned to the others around the table again. "Although my son said it in a rude manner - and I apologize for that - it really would be nice if you would please explain the situation to us." He told them, also feeling out of the loop, just like his son.

Lucy smiled at the two and nodded. "Of course-" She said and began her explanation.

 **Ehm… So… I would have liked to actually end this conversation and day here so we could go on to Earth directly next chapter, but… You know.. That didn't happen, obviously ._."**

 **Honestly, and I have a reason, it was because I, as usual, write a few chapter in advance, so while I was writing this, chapter 7 was the newest, puplished one. So.. Yeah. And this chapter should have been done before that, so I apologize if it seems a bit rushed, but that's the reason. ^_^ All hail the laziness…?**

 **OKAY, I'm sorry for not getting it right, go ahead and hunt me down with pitchforks and torches, I'll take what I deserve. Goddamn sadists, all of you.**

 **Anyway, hoped you liked it all, and although absolutely nothing happened this chapter, I hope you'll all be stayin' around for the next one! It'd be much appreciated if you do, by the way!**

 **Oh yeah! The name of the city, Statis, is not random. Statis is a flower which symbolizes** _ **remembrance**_ **most of all, but also** _ **sympathy**_ **and** _ **success**_ **. The perfect flower considering everything, isn't it?**

 **So, as usual, thank you to all of you who read, reviewed, followed and favorited, I love all of you!**

 **~Line464d**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Soooo, I'm not actually sure what'll happen this chapter, to be all honest. It'll just happen as we go, I guess XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: Hiro, mah hero, and Tadatoshi, mah (insert something that fits here), still own their two stories. Themselves. Selfish bastards. **

**At Phoenix Grave~**

"What the heck?! How can this be possible?" Phoenik asked incredulously, not believing a word of what the blonde was telling him, it was too ridiculous to be true. "You're lying to us!" He exclaimed. There was just no way. "OW!" He growled out as his father hit the back of his head.

"What did I tell you about being rude, boy?!" Aydahar scolded his son, as he turned to the blonde. "I apologize for the rude behavior of my boy, once _again_." He said and sent his boy a pointed look. "However…" He trailed off, not wanting to claim the girl was wrong.

Lucy smiled and was about reply, when the old man stepped in and did it for him. "Aydahar, I can assure you this girl is not lying." He reassured the other man. When the two Phoenix Grave members turned their eyes to him questioningly, he decided to elaborate. "What she has explained is precisely what happened to my old friend, Kozo." He said and watched the skeptism of the situation decrease. The old man turned to the blonde. "That aside, is there anything you would like to ask?" He asked Lucy.

The blonde smiled and nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind, there's a few things I would like to ask you." She confirmed for him. The man nodded, urging her to continue. "Well, according to my friends, I disappear completely from Earthland and then return again afterwards. It's the same with Earth, when I'm there. Was it like this for Kozo too?" She asked him.

Natsu nodded quickly, throwing an arm around the blonde's shoulder. "Yeah! In a golden light!" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Like when she summons her Spirits!" He said proudly, having found out what it looked like, and grinned.

The old man smiled a little at the contagious grin of the Dragon Slayer's and nodded affirmatively. "That is indeed the same as when Kozo experienced what you are going through." He reassured her, making her breathe a sigh of relief. "Am I correct if I assume this happens every time you fall asleep or get knocked unconscious?" He asked the young girl. Just in case she was divergent. The girl nodded, and so did he, closing his eyes in thought. "As I expected." He muttered.

The Ice Make mage furrowed his eyebrows at that comment. "What'a'ya mean, old man?" He asked him. Somehow, the ravenette got the feeling there was more to that than the old man was letting them see.

The elder smiled a little again, glad to know the younger generation had so sharp senses. "Hmm, you deserve to know, I guess." He mumbled, making the surrounding people look at him with surprise. "Yes, yes you do." He agreed with himself. "You see, after Kozo disappeared so many years ago, I - and a few of our friends - did some digging on this topic." He explained, making the Fairy Tail mages think of the torturous hours they had used in the two libraries the other day. And had ended out with nothing, no less, now they were all ears, curious to hear what this old man had found out. "We couldn't find much on the topic in the libraries, but we did find a little." He admitted.

After a little pause, Phoenik grew a tick-mark as his veins began bulging in anger. One second passed, before he slammed his fist down on the table. Again… "Spill it, Jiji! We don't have all day!" He yelled at the old man. His head jolted forward and he whipped around to glare at his dad. "OW, GODDAMMIT!" He snapped at him. "Why do you always do this?!" He asked him angrily.

The father glared right back at him. "Because you're rude." He said and turned to the old man as well. "Although, please do continue, we're curious to hear what you found." He said, agreeing with his son. How many times had they done that now? Four? Five?

Getting a nod in agreement from the Fairy Tail mages, the old man continued his story. "We found that when Celestial mages reach an age in between 17 and 20, their powers will go through a transformation, leaving them stronger afterwards. However, during this period of time, they will also be put to a test, one the Spirit King has made." The old man explained.

Lucy raised both eyebrows, looking at the old man in wonder. Moustache-Man? Stache-Face? Really? And… If so, why did Loke not know about it already? Or was that just something he acted as if he didn't, because he wasn't actually supposed to tell her, yet did anyway? So many questions… She wished she could somehow meet up with the Spirit King and ask him these questions, but she knew that was impossible. He was a _King_ after all.

The old man simply continued, not noticing the blonde having been caught momentarily in her thoughts and questions. "It is a test to see where they would fit in best." He said, his tone having lowered a bit. He looked up at the blonde with a sympathetic expression. "Every Celestial mage experience either that someone or themselves find their powers inferior, as it requires a big amount of magic to simply open a Gate, and then even more to let a Spirit fight in battle." He said, having read a lot about Celestial magic during that research and having discovered a newfound respect for his old friend. "The magic requires a lot of intellect as well as a lot of magic, and is one of the hardest magic out there to master. Unfortunately not many knows of this and looks down upon Celestial magic, claiming that it is weak and that the summoners hide behind their Spirits, while in reality it is usually very difficult for Celestial mages to both focus on supporting their Spirits with magic and having their guard up and throwing punches at the enemy at the same time." The old man said, making the young Celestial mage blush in embarrassment.

Natsu looked at the old man with an almost angry expression. "We know Lucy isn't weak like that! We don't think her magic is weak!" He said. On the contrary, she was strong. She'd taken being tortured by Gajeel back when he was a Phantom impressively well, he doubted he could even last that well himself. And she had a hell of a kick! "You don't feel weak, right Lucy?" He asked her, but growing confused at the expression she was sporting. "Right…?" He asked her again, more hesitantly this time around.

She glanced up at him, but as soon as her eyes met with his, she quickly averted them to the floor next to her, thanking the gods that she was sitting at a corner. She felt a blush creep up unto her cheeks and nervously scratched her arm. "Well…" She trailed off, knowing her team, even Natsu, got what she was trying to say but couldn't. She felt weak, of course she did. She felt like she always dragged them down on missions and she felt like she always was the one to get hurt. She had for some time now. She looked down at her lap, where she saw Happy curl around himself and get comfortable, closing his eyes again, offering her reassurance and comfort silently.

The old man smiled warmly at the scene in front of him, a team who clearly loved and supported her, if their expressions were anything to go by. He chuckled and sent the blonde a smile. "You don't have to worry, child, what you're going through is just a side effect of puberty, the transformation happening with your magic right now and because your magic is as difficult as it is." He reassured her. "I remember Kozo going through the very same thing!" He laughed. "He would always shy away when asked and whenever we went on a mission where he got hurt, he'd always be blaming himself." The old man said, receiving a bright smile from the blonde, silently thanking him.

Erza, sitting with crossed arms, had been silently listening to the conversation for a while now. This last bit had gotten her to worry. She always knew Lucy felt like she was the weakest on the team, but she had thought that just served to spur her on more to get stronger. But… The reaction Lucy was giving, she wouldn't even meet their eyes, it hinted towards the blonde's feelings being a little more than she had first anticipated. Lucy was a very clever girl, she always made the plans, in the few occasions they actually decided they needed a plan, and would always have a quick overview of any situation, and could always adjust to people and see how to act around them due to her upbringing, where she had met with a lot of different people. And just a few days ago, when she was moved to another world, her behavior around the two boys was more than what could be expected from someone in her situation. Impeccable, really. It was impressive.

Erza brushed the considerations off her, deciding to bring it up in the train-ride home. This was without a doubt something they needed to clear up before it got out of hand. Instead, she turned to the old man, as she had a question. "Excuse me, but I don't really follow what you're saying Mr. What has all this got to do with the Spirit King and his test?" She asked him, finding his explanation a little unclear on that point.

The old man lifted a finger. "Oh, yes! Thank you for asking, lass, I almost forgot!" He said and chuckled. "Ohoho! My memory's not what it has been!" He laughed. "See, the test is as mentioned to find the place most suited for the mage. There are a few points which are the same for every Celestial mage. First one is, as I said earlier, that they feel like they are weak. But that's here, on Earthland, which leads to the second point. On Earth, on the other hand, they will feel appreciated by the people they meet, who'll accept them, even if he mages tell those people about their world-travelling." He told them. "The last one is that usually, when love is involved between the Celestial mage and one of the earthlings, the mage will at last wish he or she could stay there forever. Although, it is also often seen that even without the involvement of love, Celestial mages choose to stay. The reasons for that should be quite clear." The old man said, his voice lowering a little in the end.

The blonde looked down at the table. "Just like what happened to Kozo…" She muttered, only barely loud enough for the old man to hear her.

Nonetheless, he did. And he nodded. "Yes, dear. Just like Kozo." He agreed.

Gray leaned forward, putting an elbow on the table, and resting his head in it, as he looked at the old man. "Say, when and how will this travelling between worlds stop?" He asked him, wondering if the elder man knew the answer.

The man turned his attention towards the Ice Make mage and nodded. "A good question, indeed." He half-praised the boy. Maybe? Who actually knew with an old guy like him? "It will end either when the mage has clearly stated he or she wishes to stay on Earth forever, in which case the wish if fulfilled, or when they turn 20, where they then will remain in Earthland." He said.

Lucy nodded. Okay… So, she was 17 now, soon 18, that would mean a little more than two years left. That was all the time she had with the basketball team. After that, it was probably unlikely she would ever meet those boys again…

The old man tapped his temples, squeezing his eyes shut as his mind ran a million kilometers per hour. "Ohhh…! There was one more thing…! I just can't remember it!" He said and hit his head three times, before jolting his eyes wide open. "Oh yes! It will also stop if the 'reason' you were sent there was completed!" He said and looked at Lucy. "Now, child, your mission is something about helping, and something about this boy, Akashi." He recalled. She nodded, confirming he was right. "So, as I'm sure you know, whenever you come to the point where that has been fulfilled, with other words, when he has helped you or you have helped him, the test will also be over, and you'll stay back on Earthland." He told her.

While Lucy and her team were silently thinking it all over, Phoenik was growing more impatient by the second with the silence reining between them all. Finally, as seemed to be his favored method of garnering attention, the mage slammed his hand down on the table, almost making one worry if it would break or not. "I can't take this silence anymore, goddammit! How old is this guy?!" He asked, just to break the silence. And, as usual, the dad whipped the back of the boy's head. Phoenik slowly turned to his dad and glared fiercely at him. "For fuck's sake, OW!" He yelled directly into the father's ear, who wasn't even flinching at it at all.

On the contrary, he levelled the boy a berating stare. "When will you learn _not_ to be so rude?" Aydahar asked with a cold, kind of emotionless voice. Exactly the one Jude had used on Lucy when he scolded her back in the day. Was it just a dad-thing? While his son was muttering curses for him, the father turned to Lucy and the old man. "Yes, it would indeed be nice to know how old this 'Kozo' is, as I have not heard of him even within my own guild." He said.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Of course! He's in the beginning of his fifties, it seemed." She told them. One thing she learned as an aristocrat though, was to gauge how old people were. It was rude to get that wrong, especially with the ladies, after all.

The old man furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the blonde in confusion. "Was it the early fifties you said?" He asked her. She nodded. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "How curious… How very curious." He commented lowly, probably not entirely meant to be heard by the surrounding people.

Natsu looked at him with a curious gaze. "What did'cha find out, old man?" He asked him excitedly. This whole conversation had been interesting, even for him. At least, kind of interesting. It was about his teammate and partner, after all.

"Oh, it's quite interesting actually, lad." He told him. "See, when Kozo had first started going to Earth back in the day, we were of equal age." He said and chuckled.

There was complete silence around that table, if a fly landed on the table, it would have been heard. But it was just the calm before the storm. "WHAT?!" All of the surrounding people exploded all at once, as if they had somehow seen a signal.

The old man just continued chuckling. "It seems I was correct regarding the time differences, there is none." He said, and with the curious glances of the others, he resumed his explanation. "Well, I had kind of noticed it back in the day, when we were doing missions and Kozo was knocked out. Sometimes he'd be gone from us in only an hour, while it may have been a whole day for him on Earth." He said with a reminiscent smile. Meanwhile, everyone was dropping their jaws to the floor. "The most extreme incident of this kind was back when he, as every other night, went to sleep, and woke up again the next morning, also as usual." He paused, the people around the table sitting with excited expressions, curious to hear what had happened then. "He had been in Earthland for a whole week." He finally bombed them.

This time, their jaws went through the floor. "WHAT?!" They all erupted again. "How is that even possible?!" Phoenik added, being the first to readjust his jaw to its normal size and place again.

The old man chuckled. "Everything's possible with this kind of thing, my boy." He said. "Of course, it has also occurred reversely. Sometimes, over the duration of a night, it will have been only a mere hour on Earth." He told them. "Now, being told he's in his fifties, while I'm here, almost turning eighty, my theory of there being no connection at all between Earthland and Earth at all, regarding the passage of time anyway, has been confirmed." He said in a way that sounded like he had no more regrets in life and could die happily.

Lucy leaned back in her chair, thinking about everything. So.. Since Kozo had experienced it too, there was no denying the possibility of her, herself also experiencing it, staying there for a week, when in actuality only a night had passed. It made her wonder if there really weren't a connection at all. It just seemed… Wrong that there would be no connection whatsoever between anything at all. But, of course, that was with the basis of an experience with world-travelling equal to zero, it was just her inner writer who wanted to make a connection between everything.

On top of that, there was no saying how long she'd actually be going to Earth, since whenever whatever mission she had was completed, she would just stay at Earthland. That, or she would have to wait till she turned 20. Or she would have to say out loud she wanted to stay at Earth. And that wasn't going to happen. Sure, she had her doubts about her own strength and so forth, but even if she was the weakest, she had friends in Fairy Tail especially and in her Spirits too, whom she'd have to abandon if she wished for that. And that was just if she looked at her own side of the story. She wasn't even going to start with what would happen to her Spirits and friends.

While she said all that now, she wouldn't be able to tell how the future would unfold. There was one thing she was sure about though, and that was that she was definitely going to love that basketball team more and more over the duration she'd know them, however long she'd get to know them. She did already, honestly. Those boys and Sat-chan were just too cute! Although it felt weird saying that about people who were taller than she was… Really, only Akashi and Sat-chan were smaller than she was, and it was only by a little!

The old man cleared his throat to once again get the attention back to himself. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?" He asked the Fairy Tail mages.

Lucy, having gotten the answer on the one question she had, was about to shake her head, when Erza uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. "Yes, if I may ask a question?" She asked. The old man nodded, urging her to speak up. "Is it possible for Lucy to bring people with her to Earth? She has brought things with her from there to Earthland and back again, if she touched them whilst falling asleep." The redhead explained. "Does the same concept apply for us?" She asked, gesturing to the rest of Team Natsu.

The old man sighed and shook his head. "No, it is not possible for her to bring you with her to Earth. We tried many times, believe me, synchronizing sleep even, but still, only Kozo went to Earth." He said, almost sounding disappointed he couldn't come along. "It seems only the clothes the mage is wearing as well as if whatever he or she is in contact with is important will come with them to Earth and back again." The man paused for a moment, looking a little thoughtful. "Actually… That isn't entirely true. From what we experienced with Kozo, only things of importance from Earth came to Earthland, and perhaps back again, whereas nothing of Earthland's ever came to Earth. But that might just be with Kozo." He commented.

The Knight nodded and leaned back in her chair again, looking around at the members of her team. "Does anyone have any questions?" She asked them, all four of them shook their heads. She nodded curtly and turned to the old man, offering her hand for a handshake as she stood up. "Thank you very much for taking your time off to answer our questions." She said and bowed lightly.

Lucy quickly shot up and did the same. "Yes! Thank you very much, you have really helped us a lot with understanding all of this!" She said quickly, as she saw Gray nod and Natsu grin in agreement.

The old man chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, it was no trouble at all! I'm glad to hear my old friend is having a wonderful life on Earth." He reassured them, waving his hand in dismissal in front of him. "Oh yes, would you mind saying hi from me to him next time you see him, child?" He asked Lucy, smiling kindly at her.

She nodded quickly. That was the least she could do! "Yes, of course I will!" She suddenly realized she hadn't gotten the old man's name yet. "Who shall I say it's from?" She asked him with a smile.

The old man just smiled wider. "Adelfos Alteria." He said, a little mischief twinkling in his eyes. "His twin brother."

 **In the train~**

"Well…" Gray said, breaking the silence which had been lying around all five of them for a while now. As usual in the trains, Natsu was lying, half-passed out, on Lucy's lap, while Happy was sitting on the table and Erza and Gray on the opposite seat. "That was a surprise." He said.

Lucy turned to him with a confused expression. She had zoned out for a while, had she missed their conversation? "What was?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound _too_ stupid.

Gray looked at her with his arms behind his head. "That the old man was the other old man's brother. Twin brother, to top it all off." He said. That really had surprised the Fairy Tail mages back there, as well as the two Phoenix Grave members, they'd all exploded in his head with questions.

Lucy giggled and nodded. "Yeah, it really was." She said and looked out of the window, imagining the two next to each other. "Now I think about it, I guess they're kind of similar." She admitted and grinned at him. "If you forget all the wrinkles, that is." She laughed, Gray joining in on it, although never having seen this Kozo-guy for himself.

The Requip mage looked towards the blonde, wondering if she should bring that certain topic up now… Or if she should wait. What would be the perfect time for a topic like that? Was there even one? She wasn't sure there actually was.

The blonde noticed the redhead's somber expression and tilted her head. "What are you thinking about, Erza?" She asked as she automatically ran her fingers through Natsu's wild hair.

Erza turned and looked at Lucy and smiled a little smile. "Oh, it was just at something Adelfos said mentioned." She told her. The redhead realized there probably was no going back now, and that she would have to bring it up, whether it was good timing or not.

Gray, noticing Erza's expression, and having known the mage for a longer time than the blonde, quickly figured out which part of the whole conversation she was thinking about. But was it really appropriate to bring it up here? Well, as good a place as any. He gave Erza a little nod, telling her to go ahead.

The redhead, having been confirmed in her thoughts that it was an all right place to bring it up, decided to do so. "It was the part about… Celestial mages." She said, letting Lucy figure it out for herself.

And the blonde did, she knew from the moment the old man had mentioned it, that it was something she would have to talk to her teammates about. She closed her eyes. "Listen guys, it's nothing to worry about, I-" She was cut off by Gray.

The Ice Make mage slammed his hand down on the table of the train, having adopted Phoenik's habit in the short amount of time they had been together, making Happy fly up and land on Natsu. "But Lucy! It's not okay, don't you see?" He asked her, getting an expression from Lucy that told him she was about to protest to what he was saying in return. He leaned back in his seat, calming himself down again. "Lucy… If you continue feeling like you're worse than us…" He trailed off, sending her a tender look, before continuing. "Won't it end in you making the decision to stay on Earth?" He asked her, remembering what the old man had said.

Lucy's eyes widened and she froze for a second. Then she quickly thawed out of the imaginary ice and shook her head. "No! That won't happen, I promise! I wouldn't-" She was cut off again, but this time by the redhead.

"It will bring you in that direction, Lucy." She said, sending Lucy a look as tender as the one Gray was sending her. Within just the small amount of time the five of them had been together on a team, they had all become like brothers and sisters to each other, and they loved each other as much.

Especially her. If she wasn't there… She was the glue in their team. If she weren't there to stop them - once in a while, when she got the chance - there was no doubt their team would be disbanded before it even got made. She always smiled at them all, always kept up the morale if Natsu didn't do it. And they could all be strong because of her, because they didn't want her to get hurt, didn't want to disappoint her with failing the mission. She was their precious little sister, and they would do everything for her.

Lucy felt the hot tears building up in her eyes and closed them roughly, trying to keep them back. "B-but.." She trailed off, not even able to speak any longer. Why did it feel like they were attacking her? It was like they were scolding her for being weaker than them, she didn't know how to react or feel.

She jumped a little when she felt a hot hand reached up and brushed her tears away. She opened them up to see the smile of her salmon-haired partner and best friend. "They- We're not blaming you, Luce." He told her, knowing that was what she felt, behind the smell of her salty tears, he could smell it. And his confirmation of this came when she smiled and nodded, while more tears poured out of her eyes.

The Requip mage nodded affirmatively. "We just don't want you to unnecessarily feel weak." She told her. There was absolutely no reason to anyway. She was just like Levy, although not as extreme. Maybe not the ace in fights, but once it came to gathering information and the like, she far surpassed any of the four.

Even Happy nodded, tears filling his eyes too. "You know, Lushy." He said, trotting over to where she was and giving her as much of a hug as he could with his short paws. "I know I often say stuff, like you're fat and weak and stuff." He looked up at her, his eyes so filled with tears, her face was just a blur of yellow and the color of her skin. "But I don't mean any of it~!" He whined and hid his face in her shirt.

Lucy tried giggling at the cat, but it just came out as strange sobs, so she stopped and just smiled at him. "I know Happy." She whispered, not having voice to anything else at the moment. She reached down and gently scratched the back of his ears, where she knew he had a soft spot.

Erza leaned a little forward in her seat, in a little attempt at getting closer to the blonde. Right at that moment, she wanted to pull the blonde into a bone-crushing hug, but also knew it probably wasn't the best option, even if she could. She also just wanted to drop the whole topic they were getting started, since she could see it hurt the blonde to talk about, but she knew it was necessary they cleared this out.

Gray watched as the blonde cried, he - like Erza - wanted to do something for her, so she didn't hurt, but knew the only way to do that was to stop the conversation here. But then she would just hurt at another point in time, and that was stupid.

Right as the two decided to say something, Lucy beat them to it. "Y-you don't have to worry about m-me, guys." She told them and dried her eyes the best she could. "Adelfos explained why I'm so weak right now, it's the transformation. After that, I will be strong, I promise!" She told them, giving them a teary-eyed, reassuring smile. Or what she hoped it'd be anyway.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows a little. "But that's where you're wrong, Lucy." He said, getting everyone's attention. Lucy looked at him confusedly. "You're not weak." He told her. "I know for sure, I wouldn't be able to summon Spirits from another world anytime soon." He said with a lopsided grin.

Erza shook her head, agreeing with Gray. "Neither would I." She admitted. "Neither would I be able to handle the stress of this team if I was in your position." She told her.

Natsu groaned, feeling sick, but determined to also say something. "Or… Ugh… Being tortured by Brace Face." He somehow managed to groan out.

The Ice Make mage nodded. "Yeah, for once I agree with Ash for Brains." He said and grinned at Lucy. "That was pretty cool, you know. You kept your faith in us and Fairy Tail all the way, sure we'd come for you." He told her, making her feel her tears building up again at all the praise.

Happy nodded as well. "I would have broken down before he even caught me~" He whined as he began to cry all over again, hiding his face in Lucy's shirt again.

Lucy hiccupped, trying what she could to keep her tears to herself, but it wouldn't take much more of this before her defenses broke. "G-guys…" She muttered, not sure what else to say.

Erza crossed her arms. "Besides all your amazing feats, Lucy, one of the most amazing was one you made just a few days ago." She told the blonde, making her glance at the redhead in curiosity yet also embarrassment. "It was when you went to Earth for the first time." She told her.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, confused with what she meant. "What's so amazing about that, Erza? Every Celestial mage goes through that." She reminded her.

The redhead shook her head. "It wasn't that I meant either." She said and looked into the blonde's brown orbs. "I meant the way you adapted to that other world so quickly and easily. As far as I can understand, they don't even have a clue you're from another world." She said. "That's an amazing feat, Lucy. Whether you know it or not."

Lucy felt her cheeks warm up as her waterworks broke down. She had never been good at taking praise, maybe because it wasn't something she'd gotten so often after her mother died. "I-I'm not as amazing a-as you g-guys put me u-up to b-be." She said. All they said made her sound like she was a hero of some sort, a strong hero who never broke down or were beaten. "I-I'm more l-like the p-princ-cess in d-dis-distress." She sobbed, the truth of her own words filling her mind.

Gray leaned back and closed his eyes. He completely disagreed with the blonde, but if that's how she felt, he had to put himself in her shoes. "What's wrong with being a princess once in a while?" He asked her. "As long as you also have moment where you aren't, I don't see any harm in it." He said.

The blonde looked up at him, her tears seemingly never-ending. "G-Gray…" She whispered, words completely disappearing from her mouth.

Erza nodded. "I agree." She said, making the tearful blonde turn to her. "This 'weakness', that only you feel, is a cause from the transformation your magic is currently undergoing, you have to remember that, Lucy." She reminded the blonde. "You said it yourself, afterwards, you'll be stronger." She told her and crossed her arms, giving her a determined look. "Until you reach that point, we, your team, and Fairy Tail will do our best to support you any way we can." She promised the girl. "But even so, you have the intellect to make up for any physical weakness you could ever have. And you own the kindness of a goddess, without you, Team Natsu would be nothing." Erza admitted, smiling warmly at her teammate, who was crying her eyes out.

Lucy did what she could to calm herself down, but it was hard. But the occasional squeezing of her hand from Natsu and his little cat patting the back helped it along. She smiled at them all as she dried her eyes and cheeks. "Thank you, guys." She said, having finally regained control of her voice. "It really means a lot to me, you know." She told them.

This whole thing definitely boosted her confidence in herself. As well as knowing every Celestial mage went through this. And that she was going through a sort of transformation, which would make her stronger. It all boosted her confidence. And now that she knew her team didn't blame her for anything and would still have her back, she could relax completely.

Since they had been so honest with her, she decided she should be honest with them as well. "Oh yeah, I talking about support from the guild…" She said, drawing the attention of all four. "Gajeel has agreed to help me train."

 **Yearp, I think you can imagine how the conversation would go after such a bomb ^_^**

 **We definitely learned stuff this time, huh? Honestly, some of it - not all, but some - was made up on the spot. For example the transformation of Celestial magic and the fact that it was a test of the Spirit Kings, but it fell into place quite neatly, didn't it? XD Ahh, All hail the randomness. Actually… I think I'll make that my motto from now on! Okay, it always has been. Will probably always be. Either randomness or laziness….**

 **Anyway, I hope I succeeded in making that last part sad/sweet enough. I'm still an amateur, I know, but I'm working on it, I swear! Eh, well… Hope it's satisfactory anyway!**

 **Oh and, you guys.. I don't have to tell you every time, but y'know, you deserve it. YOU'RE AMAZING! This story has already received more than 70 followers and reviews! Keep at it, guys, and I will too!**

 **As per usual, thank you SO much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following! I can't express how much all your support means to me!**

 **~ Line464d**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **So… After such a chapter as the one from last, what'a'ya say we go take a look at Earth?  
I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to be writing this time, honestly. And probably won't these few next chapters XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: The two old guys are still keeping their stories to themselves… I'll just wait them out! … Probably. **

**At Earth~**

"Mary! Is there anything else I can help you with?" Lucy asked the woman, who was cleaning the tables vigorously.

The woman quickly shook her head, making her short bob of hair fly in every direction. "No, I have nothing! Thank you for your help today, Lucy-chan!" She thanked the younger girl.

Yet another lunch break had passed with Lucy helping the cafeteria-lady out. Just like the other day, the room had been over-crowded with, mainly, male students, after the news of her being behind the desk spread once again. It had been just as rough, but Lucy couldn't imagine it being any different for Mira in Fairy Tail.

She smiled at the kind woman and nodded, giving her a wave as she exited the room. Oh how she loved that woman. She probably was the kindest person she had ever met in her life. Although… She wouldn't mind helping her out. After all, the other day, she'd had a lot of extra time to go on, having a little less wouldn't be bad. Of course, she couldn't blame her for it at all.

Knowing she had so much time, she casually walked down the hall towards the first set of stairs. Luckily she'd more or less memorized the route she'd take to the gym, so she didn't have to walk around like a confused, little child.

She wondered if she'd meet that blue-haired boy again. She was curious to hear if he found anything out regarding his own style of play. It had been nice talking to someone who was suffering the same troubles as she was. Although, it was under quite different circumstances. But, in its essence, she imagined it was basically the same.

She smiled as she reached the fields, where she'd met the blonde boy, Kise. While she'd only spoken with him for a short moment, she already liked the only other blonde she'd met on Earth. She didn't know how to explain it, but she knew that wouldn't be the last time she would meet him.

Actually, she had that feeling with the both of them. It wasn't something she thought and hoped, she _knew_ she'd get to know them. It was the same feeling she had with the Teiko basketball team, especially the first years. Well, it was not unlikely she would, seeing as she would probably be coming here for some time.

She shook her head at herself. She sounded insane… Or like a sappy teenager's romance book. Something like that.

She looked up to see the large building she recognized as the basketball gym stood tall in front of her. Finding her way around this school was simple enough when you had figured out the structure of it. The main building, the one where the cafeteria was in, held the classrooms, the cafeteria and the clubrooms, which weren't based upon sports. The gyms, yes there were more than one, were other buildings in themselves, which the sports' clubs would use, and then continue to their courts and fields. From what Loke had told her back when he explained Earth to her, the basketball team was the biggest in Teiko.

Apparently other schools didn't have separate strings based on the player's skills, they had only one big team. But because Teiko was known to have a strong basketball team, many boys and girls aspiring to become basketball players came here. That also meant that the basketball team was exceptionally big in comparison to other schools'. That's why they had to divide into three smaller sections, otherwise the gym simply wouldn't be big enough to hold all of them at once.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she heard no sound from the gym, whereas the recognizable sound of the basketball connecting with the floor had sounded loud and clear from a much longer distance. Was there no one in there?

She walked up to the door, only to see the gym as empty as it could be. She raised her eyebrows in wonder. Had she arrived too late for the 3rd string's training? No, that couldn't be. The time it took for her to go from the cafeteria to the gym hall had surely increased significantly, as she knew where to go. Then that could only mean they weren't going to be training.

In turn, that meant she had the whole gym to herself until the 1st string showed up.

With a happy skip in her step, she turned to the tool-room, knowing there'd be a free basketball she could practice with. Or twenty if she had wanted that many. Over the past few days, she'd come to love basketball more and more and wanted to play it herself. Or at least try to.

She picked up one of many balls, and focused on dribbling it out. If she was going to help Momoi with watching the boys train and pointing weak spots out, she should first know how to play the game herself. Otherwise, if she couldn't play it herself, she didn't feel she had the right to go saying those guys didn't do well enough. Although, she wouldn't ever say that, because as the 1st string, and as her friends, as long as they poured their hearts into what they did and did their best, they couldn't do less than good in her eyes.

Turning away from her second round of sappiness, she dribbled out of the tool-room. She quickly dropped her shoes, having seen a sign telling people not to bring outdoor shoes out on the court. Luckily she had settled with a loose skirt and a simple top, which allowed her basically free movement, if she didn't care about people seeing what was under that skirt, anyway. And since there weren't anyone else present, she didn't.

While she jogged slowly towards the hoop at the other end of the court, she quickly ran through each of the dribble-techniques she'd been taught. Right hand, left hand and crossover. After dribbling just a few times of each, her body'd seemed to remember it of its own. She stepped up to the little circle near the hoop and lifted her arms over her head in a stance similar to the one she'd seen the basketball team, specifically Midorima, take every time they shot for a three-pointer. Not putting too much power into the throw - as Aomine had taught her - she pushed the ball towards the net with the tips of her fingers, aiming for the backboard.

She watched as the ball gently floated in the air, nearing the net in what felt like forever as she waited to see whether it would land or not. Almost in slow-motion, the ball flew to the backboard, bouncing off the edge of the black square and only just hitting the circular metal-frame, before falling down through it.

Lucy smiled widely, confetti exploding everywhere in celebration inside her. She jogged lightly to pick up the bouncing ball before it rolled away from her and placed herself at the edge of the circle, deciding that every time she scored, she'd take a step back, increasing the distance, and as such make it harder for herself to land a ball.

She mimicked the stance she'd seen the guys take several other times, once again pushing the ball out of her hands with her fingertips, although figuring a little extra was needed for it to could reach this time. Once again, it felt like forever and a lunchbox before the ball reached the goal. This time, the ball actually hit inside the smaller square, but because she had increased the power she had put in it, it grazed the top of the hoop and flew right back at her. It bounced off the floor once, before she clumsily caught the ball.

Okay, so too much force, she'd have to cut down on that. It seemed to be an overall problem for her. After all, she had gotten used to always having to go all-out in Fairy Tail and especially on missions whenever she fought someone or something. But here… Well, it was the complete opposite, she used too much power. Quite the contrast, if she had to say anything.

But it also further confirmed what she had been told by Kozo's brother back at Earthland. She could understand why some would choose to stay here. Already now, she really liked the people she'd gotten to know, and felt, especially by Mary, appreciated by them. Of course she also felt appreciated back at Earthland, but where it was her presence and friendship which was appreciated in the magic world, here she was the oldest - if you didn't count Kozo and Sanada. And she knew she was probably also the strongest, seeing as she was living in a world revolving around pushing oneself to the limit in battles.

She shook her head. It didn't matter. The only reason she had yet to feel the appreciation of her skill and power was because she was undergoing this magical transformation, once that had passed, she'd grow stronger, and then she'd feel that appreciation as well. That was what she convinced herself anyway. If she didn't, there was no doubt she'd be staying here at Earth after some time of switching between worlds and learning the people here better. Of course, if it ever came to that, she would be leaving her keys behind at Earthland, after all her selfish desires shouldn't be forced upon her Spirits.

She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the ball. This really wasn't the time to be thinking all of this. If anyone from the basketball team walked in on her zoning out like that, how was she supposed to explain it? Daydreaming? No, that surely wouldn't work, she wasn't the daydreaming kind of type. Mostly.

Pushing every thought out of her head, she loosened her grip on the ball and glared fiercely at the hoop, deciding that this ball would land in the little circle and she would step out behind the three-point arc. Crouching a little in her knees and assuming the shooting stance, she shot the ball in an almost horizontal line at the backboard, aiming for the little square. As she had hoped and aimed for, the orange ball hit the backboard with a loud thud and shot into the metal-ring and down through it, the laws of physics pulling it down to the ground.

She smiled a little to herself and jogged to the ball, picked it up, and returned to standing just outside the semi-circle, marking the limit between scoring two or three points. Once again, glaring at the goal. She didn't know how, but glaring at the metal ring somehow made her focus better. How being mad at a piece of rounded metal helped her, she had no idea, but it did. And she wasn't going to question it.

In yet another burst of power, she almost hurled the ball at the backboard, willing it to hit the ring and fall down through it. And as she had hoped - and willed - the orange ball fell through the net. With a little smile, she went to pick up the ball again.

"Interesting." She heard someone say to her right. She turned her head, seeing a pair of glasses reflecting the sun, being worn by an otherwise dark character, having been cast in shadows. However, she knew who it was already, those glasses and the way they were pushed up, there was only one person she knew who did it like that. "I have never seen someone actually scoring a three-pointer with a shot quite like that." The boy said, taking a step inside the gym and revealing himself to be none other than Midorima.

Midorima had come just in time to see the blonde throwing the ball at the net as if she was trying to kill it, and actually - much to his surprise - actually scored. He had always been taught that when one shot a three-pointer, it was optimal to make it as high as possible, as to make it as difficult to take as possible. To be… Gentle with the ball, as a matter of fact.

Lucy smiled at him, but then his words actually seeped in and she tilted her head, looking at the green-haired boy with a quizzical expression present on her face. "Huh? What do you mean with that, Midorima?" She asked him. Wasn't that how you scored a shot? Getting it through the hoop?

Midorima nodded, seeing her confusion. Amazing how she was so new to basketball, yet seemed to have a special talent for it. "Usually, when scoring, especially three-pointers, one would go for the highest ball possible, as to avoid the chances of the opponent team stealing the ball." He explained.

Lucy raised her eyebrows in realization. "Ohh…" She said dumbly, realizing the logic in what the younger boy was saying. Of course, if one threw the ball high enough into the air, no one would be tall enough to take it, especially if somehow magically got right through the net in a vertical line. Of course, that was impossible.

"That doesn't mean that shot doesn't have its perks too though." He commented, once again gaining the blonde's undivided attention. "No one would expect a shot like that, as everyone shoots it with a high arc, therefore, perhaps in pure confusion, the opponent wouldn't know what to do and it would land." He commented, pushing his glasses up. Again. "Interesting shot indeed." He said.

Lucy wasn't sure whether the basketball player was giving her a compliment or telling her how to shoot correctly, but either way she appreciated it and gave him a smile.

Their conversation was cancelled before it could even begin when a flash of pink quickly closed the distance between the entrance and the blonde. "Lucy-chan~!" Momoi said as she crashed into the blonde, the both of them falling to the ground.

Lucy, having expected this to happen sooner or later, had quickly thrown the rubber ball to Midorima, and caught herself on the floor with her hands. "Sat-chan!" She similarly said, throwing her arms around the younger girl, not minding the weird stares they got from the basketball players. At some point, they'd get used to this.

A set of determined footsteps approached them, and stopped up moments before Momoi was unwillingly lifted up from the floor and the blonde. "You never learn, do you Satsuki?" Aomine asked his childhood friend, holding her by the collar of her shirt, as if she was a kitten, and having turned her to face himself.

Momoi glared at the blue-haired guy. "Why do you always have to interfere, Dai-chan?!" She demanded, irritated that he was the one to take her off Lucy every time. They were just girls, what was the harm?

Lucy, having listened to and smiled at the two friends' conversation, was getting herself ready to get off the floor, when a hand entered the field of her vision, held out invitingly towards her. She followed it and met the eyes of Nijimura, who was giving her a little smile.

She smiled back at him in gratitude, took the offered hand, and was helped off the floor. "Thank you, Nijimura." She thanked him. Once again, she noticed a huge contrast between Earthland and Earth. Back there, when Lucy was injured and all, Natsu decided to just drop her on the floor, where here on Earth they seemed more polite, helping her off the floor instead. Of course, the circumstances and personalities were also different, and she didn't blame Natsu for anything in the least, although she had hurt her ass a little back there.

Nijimura shook his head. "No problem at all." He reassured her. Honestly, he had no idea how she put up with Momoi tackling her like that every time, and found her patience with the girl like that of a goddess. Maybe it was because he himself didn't have much patience with people. Such as Haizaki for example. He looked around for said idiot, and just like the other day, he was nowhere in sight. "Tch, he didn't show up again, huh?" He mumbled to himself.

Lucy tilted her head at the black-haired boy's words, finding herself confused as to who he was talking about. "Who hasn't showed up, Nijimura?" She asked him, drawing his attention back to herself again.

The captain sighed in irritation, not at Lucy, but at Haizaki. "The idiot, Haizaki, hasn't showed up yet. Just like yesterday." He said. He hadn't even bothered to show his ugly mug, not that he really cared anyway. He would never like the guy, their personalities just clashed.

"It would not surprise me if he has fallen asleep somewhere." A calm voice commented. The two turned their heads to see the redhead approaching them. "He is likely the laziest person I have encountered in my entire life." Akashi said. Nijimura nodded in agreement.

Before anyone could say anything else, the coach entered the room and demanded all of the boys to go to the dressing rooms as well as asking whether anyone knew of Haizaki's whereabouts. Of course, no one knew anything.

Lucy and Momoi quickly began pulling everything out and getting it ready for the boys, a task they had volunteered to do and silently gotten into agreement with the boys that they would.

However, in the middle of it all, a guy with a top of white hair and an amused grin on his face entered the building. "Hmm? Have I come too late?" He asked himself, looking around in fake confusion. Although the smirk he was wearing betrayed him. Not that he seemed to care. "Oh what a shame. Well, I should go home then." He said and turned around in mimicked disappointment.

Lucy raised a brow in amusement, smiling a little at Haizaki's horrible attempt at 'trying' to hide his real thoughts. "No, Haizaki. You aren't too late, the guys are all changing now." She told him.

Haizaki stopped up and looked at the blonde over his shoulder. "Huh?" He asked her, annoyed she'd stopped him from doing what he wanted. He furrowed his eyebrows when he actually saw the blonde. She seemed familiar to him, where had he seen her before? Oh right, she was the one the captain was with those two days ago or something. "Ohh, who do we have here?" He asked himself, confusing the girls. "Captain's blonde chick. Or was it the redhead's?" He asked, smirking to himself as he once again remembered what had happened in the locker room. She wasn't taken by either of them, and now he looked, she didn't look half bad. So the captain and the redhead had a little taste in them after all.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at that and looked at him with an irritated expression. "Just what are you talking about?" She asked him. The mere thought of being together like that with either of them making her feel like a pedophile, they were so young, both of them. She shook her head, not even giving him time to answer. "Please show up on time next time, Haizaki." She said. She knew if he didn't, he'd never gain the acceptance of the team, the line was already very narrow with Nijimura.

Haizaki smirked at her, turned around and approached her. "Oh, I see how it is." He said, having reached her completely, loving the confused, yet slightly glaring gaze he got from the blonde. He loved it whe the chicks had some fight in them. Nonetheless, he paid it no mind as he put an arm around her shoulder, tightening his grip enough so he knew she couldn't escape. He leaned in close to her ear. "You care, don't you?" He whispered.

Momoi stood a little off to the side, wondering what she should do in this situation. She knew Lucy was older and stronger than she was, if she couldn't get away from Haizaki, how could little, weak she help? Even if she wanted to she doubted she could, she was a little scared of the much taller white-haired boy.

Lucy glared at Haizaki from the corner of her eyes, not daring to turn her head not knowing what the apparent player would do. She didn't know how she should handle this guy. She had first thought he was like Gajeel, but now she saw she was more of a mix between Gajeel and Loke. And she handled the two of them differently. She got the feeling that the only way to actually handle this guy was through brute force, words didn't seem to particularly reach him. If only she had started training with Gajeel earlier, then she wouldn't be faced with this problem. She also knew Momoi probably felt beyond uncomfortable watching all of this.

Lucy closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again. "Of course I worry, Haizaki." She told him, and to some extent it really was true. After all, even if it were the worst qualities, he reminded her of two of her friends. Even if one of them didn't even know he was one. "I was hoping we could become friends, actually." She told him and ducked under his arm. "Besides, I'm way too old for you." She reminded him.

The white-haired boy smirked at her. "Really? I don't mind older women." He reassured her. After all, the older they were, the more experience they were likely to have. He took one step closer to the blonde again.

She stood steadily to the ground, not even flinching as the taller guy came closer to her. From what she had learned, it was important not to let them think they had the upper hand, because then they would have.

Besides, she had been tortured and not given up, why should she ever be afraid of an ordinary boy several years younger than her?

"Haizaki." A sharp voice cut through the silent gym. All three turned their heads to see the captain as well as a few others from the basketball team appearing at the entrance. Nijimura was walking towards the two of them, an angry glare aimed directly at the white-haired boy. Within seconds, he had reached them and pushed the guy forward with a tight grip at the top of his neck and bottom of his head, forcing him to walk forward. "You're coming with me." He stated before the two disappeared from their sights.

Lucy didn't know whether to giggle or not at it all, but in the end decided against it, the situation just didn't call for it, and sighed. She wanted to like Haizaki and be friends with him, she really did, but he didn't make it easy for her, that much was for sure.

Once Haizaki was gone, Momoi quickly hurried to Lucy and bombarded her with questions of whether Lucy was okay or not, to which the blonde just giggled and nodded, reassuring her she was all right.

Training began shortly after everyone had showed up on the court, including Haizaki with the addition of a few new bruises here and there. Lucy and Momoi had moved to sit at the benches, watching the boys practice, although a lot of fun and talk came in over it. That didn't mean they didn't get their work done, of course they did that too. Kind of.

Suddenly, in the middle of training, Akashi noticed some of the second and third years muttering and whispering between each other, casting glances up at the balcony. The redhead followed their gazes and saw a middle-aged man standing up there and having an atmosphere around him, which told the redhead he was an important person.

The mismatched eyes turned calmly to his captain, who he'd seen had also cast glances up at the man. "Captain." He called, drawing the ravenette's attention. "Who is the man you are all muttering about?" He asked curiously, feeling left out of the loop.

Said captain raised a brow at Akashi. "What? You don't know who that is?" He asked, to which he was responded with a shaking head. "That's the head coach, Kozo Shirogane, he was the one who decides what string you're on, so you better give him your best, Akashi." He told the first year.

Akashi nodded and cast a last glance at this head coach. If that was so, there was no doubt it was vital he showed this man his best playing. Although, even if he didn't do his best, some of the second years on this team were worse than him, so he wasn't worried.

Although, he - and the rest of the team - were beyond confused when the elder man finally let his presence be known. "Lucy." His voice clear as crystal cut through the noise of the ongoing training. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

The blonde's head whipped in the man's direction, and once she saw who it was, she smiled and waved. "Oh, hi Kozo!" She greeted him, before she turned to Momoi and excused herself, making her way up to the man.

Akashi watched as they shook each other's hands familiarly before disappearing through one of the doors on the higher floor. That blonde woman was an enigma to him, had always been. Appears and disappears everywhere, doesn't know anything about basketball, yet spends much time on a school with one of the best basketball teams of their age, and plays it well herself he'd heard. And now, now she also knew probably the most important man for the basketball team. Who exactly was she?

Lucy hadn't expected to meet Kozo that day. Actually, she didn't know what she expected. But somehow, it was the perfect timing. This way, she could also retell what she had learnt back at Earthland, and deliver the message from his much older twin brother.

Kozo looked down at the blonde and gave her a smile as he held the door for the blonde, inviting her to enter his office. "Please come in and take a seat, Lucy." He said, and with a little curtsy, she did. He gestured for her to sit in one of the chairs and as she placed herself in the chair, he did the same on the other side of his desk. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." He said, first now remembering that she had probably been in the middle of something.

Lucy shook her head, smiling like the sun. "Oh, no, you didn't!" She said. Okay, okay, that wasn't completely true, she _had_ been in the middle of a conversation with Momoi. Whether the topic they were talking about - clothes - was important or not was another story entirely. "I actually wanted to talk to you as well." She said.

Kozo looked at her with interest shining in his old eyes as he tilted his head just a little. "Oh, and why is that?" He asked her, curiosity finding its way to his voice and expressing itself vividly.

The blonde hesitated for a moment, not sure how she should start her sentence off. "Well, it's because I met your twin brother, Adelfos Alteria." She finally said after not so careful consideration.

The gray-haired man froze in his chair, just staring at the blonde girl, waiting for her words to sink in. But when they did, his eyes widened more than he himself had though possible as he leaned forward in his chair. "You met Adelfos?" He asked her confusedly and amazedly. She just nodded. He leaned back, and kept staring at her as if she had suddenly grown a tail. "How is he?" He finally asked. After more than thirty years with no contact to his old family and friends at Earthland, finally he got to know something about all of them.

Lucy smiled warmly at the man, kind of understanding what kind of things he was feeling at that moment. She had to make up for the bad memories she had probably pulled up the other day, after all. "Yeah, he's fine. He told me to say hi, by the way." She said as soon as she remembered it. "Also, he told me a lot of things." She said.

Kozo raised a grayish-white eyebrow in confusion at her vague choice of words. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was on purpose or not. "What things?" He asked, wondering just what his brother had told her.

The blonde just continued to smile. "I don't know whether you know it or not, but he and some of your friends did some research after you had disappeared." She said, eyeing his reaction to see whether it was one or the other. And if the dismissive shake of his head was anything to go by, she didn't. "Well, then you might be in for a surprise yourself." She warned him, remembering what kind of confused thoughts had gone through her head when she'd been told everything.

The elder man got increasingly worried, yet curious the longer she took to say something. What was it she was about to tell him, which she thought could surprise him so much? What had his brother and their friends found out in his absence?

"From what they found out, it is only us Celestial mages who experience this travelling between worlds-thing." She told him, not even waiting for a reaction form the elder man before continuing. "This changing between worlds, is a test the Spirit King has set up for us." She said. It was only barely she forced herself to call him the Spirit King and not 'Stache-face' or something of the like.

This made the man's eyes widen impossibly much once again. "The Spirit King?!" He asked with a semi-loud and amazed voice. The greatest of all Spirits had put him to a test. Surely, he failed it, seeing as he was stuck here, holding his Spirits prison in their keys.

Lucy nodded, her face completely serious, not a fraction of her smile present. After all, it was quite a serious topic, since people could get stuck in a whole other world. "Yeah, but it's not the kind of test you can fail or pass." She said, almost as if having read the older man's thoughts. She leaned back in her chair and sat with her legs crossed by the knees. "It happens for every Celestial mage, when they're between the age of 17 and 20." She told him. Before he could ask questions as to why, she elaborated. "In that period of time, a Celestial mage is at his or her weakest, because their Celestial magic is going through a transformation, where it will be stronger afterwards." She explained and paused, letting him take in all of the new information.

Kozo slowly nodded, trying to follow what she was saying as well as trying to remember how it was like back then in that age. And sure enough, back when he was her age, he had never felt weaker. Was always the weak link of the team, the one who got hurt and - in most occasions - passed out in a fight, having been beaten brutally.

Lucy sighed. "Celestial mages have this in common." She finally said, breaking the silence again. "When they go through this transformation, they will find themselves inferior to others, or someone else will. That's because, as I know you know, to summon a Spirit, especially if it's more than one no matter whether it's gold or silver, is very difficult and requires a lot of our magic. That's why, to use our magic to its full potential, it is necessary to plan out what you do, with other words some sort of intellect. But even when you do this, it is hard to fight alongside your Spirits, even if you want to, because you have to focus on supplying them with enough magic." She said. She looked up at Kozo with eyes on the verge of crying. She had definitely experienced this more than once, she almost desperately wanted to fight side by side with her Spirits, but, as seen with her latest mission, she usually failed miserably and got hurt instead. "And then we're misunderstood for hiding behind out Spirits' backs, when we're doing all we can do to keep them out." She said. That assumption she had also run into before. And although she knew it was far from true, especially now where she had an explanation for it, it still hurt to be blamed for.

The elder man let a long sigh slip past his lips. All of the things the blonde had explained, he'd experienced all of it himself as well. And so had every other Celestial mage. It was a cruel fate, to be put up against something like that. On the other hand, if one saw it from the right perspective, a lot of new friends could come out of collecting keys. And without a doubt, the keys would always accept and never think their summoner weak, one would never feel truly lonely with them around. That was what Kozo thought anyway, although he hadn't gotten many friends - as in Spirits - the two he had were more than important to him. They were the only link he had to his old life.

Lucy gently shook her head, throwing off the rather depressing thoughts and resumed her explanation. "The Spirit King then begins his test of us, letting us travel between the two worlds." She said, once again retrieving Kozo from his memories and stream of thoughts. "Really, it isn't much of a test, to be honest." She said, now fully having Kozo's attention. She looked up at him with eyes swirling with emotion. "It's a _choice_." She dramatized.

Kozo quickly realized what the girl was talking about. It was a choice. The choice of where and with whom one wanted to live, leaving the other option behind.

Lucy nodded. "It's a choice of choosing one place over the other, one group of friends over the other. One life over the other." She said. "Every Celestial mage on Earthland will, for a period of time, feel useless and far inferior to those around him or her, whereas on Earth, the same Celestial mage will feel acknowledged and appreciated. He or she will feel she is worth the others' time, and the feeling of inferiority will be nowhere in sight." She said. "That's the choice one has to make." She finished, ending it off with a sigh.

The gray-haired man scratched his chin in thought. "I see… From the outside, it seems like a simple choice, huh?" He asked, to which he got a single nod. "But really, it's the hardest someone could be forced to take." He said.

The younger Celestial mage nodded, completely agreeing with the older mage. It was the toughest decision of her life, even though she was one hundred percent sure which she would choose, it was still a hard choice. After all, she chose that when the time came for her to choose, she would leave the basketball team and Kozo behind, probably to never see them ever again.

She closed her eyes, drew in a long breath, and released it again before opening them and looking at Kozo. "That isn't all they found out though." She finally said, trying to prevent the silence between them to become too tense. "Although it probably doesn't have a lot of importance for you now…" She trailed off.

Kozo shook his head at her. "Oh, never mind that. I would like to know as much as I can either way." He reassured her, having figured out it was probably about when and how one made his or her choice.

Lucy gave him a little smile and nodded. "All right." She conceded. "Just like you heard those two words, _Shirogane_ and _acceptance_ , right?" She asked, looking up for confirmation. Which she got in the form of a nod. "That's the reason you went to Earth. Your 'mission' in a way, I guess. If you completed it, which must have been either you, or your wife got or gave this acceptance, you would have done what you came here for, and would have remained on Earth. Likewise, you would have remained on Earth if you waited the years out until you turned 20." She explained. "On the other hand, if you chose to stay at Earth, you will have to voice it out loud. From what I understood, it didn't matter whether you were on Earth or Earthland." She told him.

He nodded slowly, still trying to understand all the things the younger girl was explaining, after all, it was quite a lot of things, and he wasn't new any longer. "I see." He said. Out of three options, he chose the single one, where he left his family and friends behind in another world.

Lucy saw the expression on the man's face and leaned forward. "You know, Kozo." She said drawing his attention again. "With this kind of thing, there isn't a 'wrong' choice." She said, surprising the elder man. "What you choose is what you think is the best for you, and even though you wish now that you could see your brother and your guild, imagine what it would be like without your wife and the family you have created here. Your friends. Imagine how it would be like leaving them behind." She told him. She could see in the old man's eyes, just the mere thought of it could bring him to tears. She smiled at him. "It's much worse, isn't it?" She asked, to which she got a silent nod. "So don't regret it. Even if it was a choice decided by emotions and hormones, you got yourself a wonderful life here at Earth." She said with a smile.

Kozo nodded, willing his tears back behind his eyes, and smiled warmly at the young blonde. "Thank you, Lucy." He thanked her. He knew she probably had no idea what she just had done for him. His entire life, ever since he had made his choice, he had regretted leaving his guild and family behind, but now he saw all the perks in his choice. He would have never married his wife, had he known that he was to leave her sooner or later, he'd have done what he could to not fall in love with her, and, most of all, he wouldn't have had his children. All these experiences, he would have had it with someone else, while inside he would have still loved the woman he left behind at Earth. No matter which choice one picked, there would always be someone to leave behind, something to regret. And while you should never forget or stop loving the people, neither should you cling to the regret and blame yourself for your choice. That was what he had done, and now he regretted he had.

Never had he imagined that this was something he would learn from a girl so much younger than himself.

With his warm smile never faltering, looked at the blonde. "Did you learn anything else?" He asked her, seeing on her face that she had yet to be done with what she wanted to tell him.

Lucy nodded quickly. "Yes, I have one more thing!" She told him. "We found out the flow of time is completely unrelated to each other. Sometimes Earth's time progresses faster than Earthland's and the other way around." She said.

Kozo seemed to think this over for a while, before he shook his head. "I can't agree with that, I'm afraid." He said. Lucy looked at him curiously. "I'm taking this from my own experience, but those times I stayed here for weeks, while it was a single night at Earthland, it was because something essential happened that week. Likewise, the times I only stayed an hour, it was because there was no need for me to stay any longer." He explained.

Lucy nodded slowly, taking in the information he was giving her. "Oh, I see. That's interesting." She admitted. "But then… What did you do when you had to sleep? At those times you stayed here for days, I mean." She asked him.

He smiled. "See, that's the most interesting part of it all." He said, leaning forward in his chair. "I never slept. Even when I stayed here for weeks, sleeping was never a part of my schedule. I could watch the sun go down and up again without feeling the least bit tired." He told her, seeing her eyes widen in amazement. "Through that, I figured out that sleeping - or being unconscious - is what triggers the travel between one place to another. Therefore, if there is still something which prevents you from returning to Earthland, you will not be able to fall asleep." He explained to her. "A little like how you are now." He said amusedly, watching as the blonde fell together where she sat her eyelids seemingly too heavy to keep up. Oh how he remembered that sensation of dizziness she would be getting right about now.

Lucy tried to fight through the dizzy spell she was suddenly attacked by. "Sorry…" She said in a low, tried voice. "I didn't… Let you speak." She barely managed to say before her eyelids fell down and all she saw was black.

Kozo didn't even blink as the golden light came and left, taking the blonde with it. He sat with his elbows on his desk, clasped together to a little ball, where he hid his mouth and chin behind. He knew she knew he had something he had wanted to say, that was made obvious with the last sentence.

He turned his head, feeling an onslaught of coughing fits coming his way.

While he tried to make sure his head didn't fly off in the fit, a single thought was coherent in his mind. He had to tell her, before she made her choice.

 **OoOoOo~ Now what could it be Kozo wanted to tell Lucy? Interesting, isn't it?**

 **Well, this chapter came out much longer than I had first anticipated. At the beginning, I had absolutely no idea how in the world I was supposed to write 5.000 words for this chapter, which is why it might have been a little strained in the beginning, but in the end it became quite a healthy chapter, huh? Well, not that I mind.**

 **And of course, you guys have been amazing as always, not only with the support you showed even though my pc broke down like the ass-hat it is, and because of that, we now have over 70 favorites, just above 80 followers and more than 90 reviews! Thank you so much, guys! It means the world to me! I would give you all a kiss of gratitude if I could! Okay… I probably wouldn't, but you get the picture XD**

 **Anyway, thank you all my wonderful readers, reviewers, followers and favoriters. May I remind you again how truly and utterly awesome you are? XD**

 **~Line464d**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Shall we not take a break from all these informative chapters? I think we should, which is why we're calming down at Earth! Kinda.**

 **I apologize for any grammar error that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Call me a Slowpoke if you want, but those two old geezers are stubborn! They still won't let me own their stories!**

 **At the guild~**

"But you promised!" Lucy half-whined as she fell into pace with the big black-haired brute.

"Tch, like hell I did." Gajeel replied, walking off towards the bar, aiming to get some metal to chew on.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "You said you agreed it'd be funny to watch me beat up Natsu!" She responded.

"Yeah, and I meant it. That doesn't mean it'll happen though." He grunted, finally reaching the counter. "Demon barmaid! Gimme some iron!" He called.

"Ugh, GAJEEL!" She yelled exasperatedly. They had been doing this all day, ever since Lucy had showed up at the guild and asked the Iron Slayer if they could begin training, to which he refused over and over again.

Gajeel glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, before taking the iron Mira had gotten. He grunted as he turned around and began walking back to his seats. "That's my name, it's not for sale." He told her.

The blonde kept her eyes tightly shut, keeping her anger at bay as they twitched in a manifestation of said anger. "I'm going to kill you…!" She grumbled under her breath, barely audible even for the Dragon Slayer's hearing. She breathed out in an attempt at calming herself, before she sent the black-haired Slayer a confused gaze. "Why won't you help me, Gajeel?" She asked him, as he sat down in his usual corner, pushing a piece of iron into his mouth.

He closed his eyes as he leaned back with his hands crossed behind his head, chewing on his iron without a care in the world. "I changed my mind, Bunny-Girl. Now, run along." He said.

Lucy, doing what she could not to explode in the Slayer's face, simply narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, so you 'changed your mind'? Why, if I may ask?" She asked him sharply. She had yet to actually find out why the guy refused to help her train.

Gajeel lazily opened one eye and stared at the Celestial mage. "I just did. Leave me alone, I want to sleep." He told her, closing the one eye again.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, when an idea sprung into her mind. She turned around, her back facing the other mage, as she crossed her arms, playing hard-to-get. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh?" She asked haughtily. "I won't forgive you for this, you know." She told him. She knew she was resorting to underhanded methods, and she didn't want to, but she needed it. And she knew he knew she did.

She heard Gajeel snorting behind her. "And why the hell should I care?" He asked her, loudly chewing on his iron, once again.

Lucy felt her short fuse completely burn up, and she whirled around. She lifted her leg up above the Iron Slayer's face. "Lucy.." She said, spurring her foot into downwards movement. "KICK!" She screamed as she slammed the heel of her foot down on his head, instantly knocking him out. She grabbed his hair in a furious rage, and began dragging him down from where he was sitting. " _You're_ coming with me!" She declared loudly, making her way towards the back of the guild, where she knew there to be a big, open space.

Levy had been watching their exchange ever since it began, waiting to see when either Lucy would snap or Gajeel would give in. In the end, it was Lucy who had snapped. She couldn't suppress a giggle, when she saw the much smaller blonde dragging the giant boulder of a man across the guild hall. Her blonde friend was much stronger than she gave herself credit for, and that was the proof of it.

Although, she had no idea what had come over the Iron Dragon Slayer. Sometimes, she'd be lucky and get him to confide in her, usually whenever Team Natsu were out on a mission, because then he didn't have to watch out for an opportunity to join the fight. But even then, it was only very few times. And it was more of him thinking out loud. Either way, what he'd usually say was something along the lines of regretting what he'd done to Lucy and Team Shadow Gear, as well as the guild building, and all the other evil deeds he'd made in Phantom Lord. So what made him refuse the shortcut to forgiveness? One that he had already, but didn't want to believe. Maybe… Was it because he thought he weren't deserving of it?

Lucy kicked open the backdoor, ignoring the many stares she got from her guild, as she kept pulling the big brute after her. She slammed the door shut behind her and threw Gajeel away as if he was a sack of potatoes, where he landed on the hard ground with a thud and a grunt.

She marched to the near-conscious man and ended up standing right next to him. "Wake up, you damn Dragon Slayer!" She snarled, kicking his sides in an effort to wake him up. "I haven't got all day!" She said, giving him an extra hard kick.

Gajeel rolled over on his side, turning his back to Lucy. "Just give me five more minutes…" He grumbled sleepily, beginning to snore out loud, making the ground rumble as if it had been an earthquake.

Lucy glared down at Gajeel, standing perfectly still with her fists clenched by her sides, as an evil wind blew from behind, making her hair wave in the air like snakes. "GET UP!" She yelled as loudly as she could, giving him yet another Lucy Kick, sending him skidding on the ground.

The Iron Slayer jumped to his feet and assumed his usual fighting-stance, quickly scanning the area. "Where?! Where's the enemy?!" He asked quickly. He zoomed in on the only other person present near him. And then he blanched, seeing who it was. His hands shot up in his defense. "Bunny-Girl! Don't do it!" He warned, seeing her come closer in a way too menacing way for his liking. He'd only ever heard of her Demon side from Natsu, but now he saw it for himself, he understood exactly what the idiot Dragon Slayer had been saying.

With each step she got closer, he felt his impending doom approaching as fast. The sky almost turned black above them, with clouds pulling in closer, the air turning a pressing humid. She brought her hands together and began cracking knuckles. "You're going to get it, traitor!" She promised him. A flash of lightning lighting her back up perfectly, leaving her face completely dark, only adding to her demonic atmosphere.

Gajeel barely had any time to prepare himself, when the feisty blonde jumped into the air, hovering above him in the air, resembling the angel of doom, before she dove down foot first. He quickly threw up a blockade, with his arms crossed over his defense. He felt the blonde's foot connecting with his forearms with much more force than he had thought she first possessed.

He pushed her away with as much force as he could. She landed safely on her feet just a little away, taking a short moment to steady her feet, before she shot off after Gajeel again, reaching him in less than a second. Her fists shot out at the Iron Dragon relentlessly, not giving him a chance to do other things than block or dodge them. Even though they weren't as strong as others he had been fighting against, they weren't weak either.

But he also knew this was the power of the demon within her, not the blonde girl he knew. Which meant this was the potential she had.

In a flash of movement, the girl spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the black-haired man's head, making his sight blurry for a moment. But that short distraction was all she needed as she quickly made her way around him and jabbed her elbow down at the spine, between his shoulder-blades. The big man grunted in the burst of pain erupting from his back and met face-to-face with the ground.

He saw and heard the blonde crouching next to him. With a scowl on his face, he glared up at the innocently smiling face of the Celestial mage. Although, the innocence in the smile made it seem sinister in light of the side of herself she had just displayed. "So, Gajeel." She said with a calm, menacing tone. "What do you say we get training started?" She asked.

Gajeel, fearing for his life, reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He relented, pushing off the ground and standing up with as much dignity as he could, after having been beaten by a girl.

Lucy smiled widely and nodded. "Thank you!" She said happily, glad she could convince the guy to help her out after all.

"Tch, not that I had a damn choice." The Iron Dragon Slayer grumbled grumpily. Slowly, a smirk formed on his face, even though he kept it small enough for the blonde to be unable to see it. He turned around and threw his arms up behind his head. "First, you need to practice your physical strength, Bunny-Girl. Why don'cha run a few laps around Magnolia?" He suggested, already making his way towards the door to the guild.

The blonde grit her teeth in frustration and anger, but instead of submerging herself in the demon, she decided on not letting it take over this time around. In a matter of seconds, she caught up with the big brute, grabbing his thick hair and pulling backwards, forcing him to reunite with the floor once again.

Without giving him much time to think about anything at all, she slammed her foot down on Gajeel so heavily he couldn't even draw a single breath and instead blew it all out in a second. "Is that enough physical strength for you Gajeel?" She taunted him, her lips turned upwards in a challenging manner.

Gajeel snorted and got up - again - without much dignity, now having been forced to the ground twice by the same girl within 10 minutes. "Sure, you can kick and pull when I'm not on guard." He said as he dusted himself off. "But can you do it against an enemy, who's carefully watching you? Can you make yourself an opening in the heat of battle?" He asked her. "To answer the question, no, you wouldn't." He told her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms as well. "No, of course I wouldn't, I don't have the skill and talent to do that." She responded.

The Slayer shook his head. "Skills and talents aren't the same thing, Bunny-Girl." He told her and shrugged. "If you don't even know that, I can't teach you anything." He said and adopted a smug grin. "Sorry, Blondie." He taunted her.

Lucy growled under her breath. "THEN EXPLAIN IT, MORON!" She yelled at him. She had never been able to handle that single nickname, and probably never would. She calmed down with a sigh as she closed her eyes. "Just because I wasn't raised by a dragon…" She mumbled.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow, having heard her last comment. "What? You want to have been raised by a dragon? You? The little Bunny-Girl?" He asked her sarcastically.

"And what if I do?" She asked him. While she wouldn't have missed knowing her mother for anything in the world, her upbringing didn't exactly prepare her for the life in a guild. On the other hand, if she had been raised by a dragon, just like Gajeel and Natsu, surely she would have had no problem fighting.

But then again, if she was raised by a dragon, she probably wouldn't have had her Celestial magic. She wouldn't have met all her Spirit-friends, who - no matter what happened - would always stay with her, would always be on her side and would always return the feeling of love she held towards them. On top of that, she wouldn't have met the earthlings either. And her Mama…

While all these thoughts went through her head, Gajeel had just been looking at her with a baffled look. Obviously he knew she was a tough blondie, but he had never thought she would actually want to be raised by a dragon. After all, she _was_ a rich-girl, whether tough or not. And he'd been told she had loved her mother more than anything. Kinda like how he had loved that bastard Metallicana. Likewise, that most important person/predator left them, one way or another. Wait… She had felt the same suffering he had? No, he was left all alone, whereas she still had her dad. Who was an unparalleled asshole.

Lucy shook her head. There were others like her who had taught themselves to fight. Erza, Cana, Mira, Elfman… And if they could do it, she could too. "It doesn't matter who or what I was raised by, I still want to be stronger." She told the much bigger guy with a determined expression.

Gajeel returned to Earthland when the blonde spoke again and nodded. "All right, already." He grumbled, scratching his scalp underneath his big mane of hair. "Skill is not talent. Skill is something you get through experience, and if you have it also mixed up with talent." He explained. "Talent is something you're born with, something you're naturally good at." He told her, sending her a look that expressed exactly how big an idiot he thought she was.

"Oh, look what smartass you turned out to be." She said, while she considered what he had told her. It didn't sound like his own words, maybe they were his dragon's? Although that expression sure as hell was his own.

The Iron mage shrugged. "Well, can't help it if I'm naturally smart, Bunny-Girl." He shot back at her.

Lucy sighed with a smile. "Thanks for explaining it to me, Gajeel." She told him, surprising him. "But what does it have to do with for my obviously nonexistent lack of physical strength?" She asked him.

Gajeel snorted a laugh. "Gihi, haven't you figured it out?" He asked her, to which she shrugged and shook her head. "Thought you were smarter than that, Bunny-Girl." He taunted her with a big grin. When she sent him a light glare, he kept talking. "While I sure as hell can't deny you've got more than enough muscles in your legs to last for an army, your arm- and torso muscles lack." He told her. "That goes for your demon-side too. Your strongest and only weapon right now are your legs." He said. Not that it wasn't a dangerous weapon, 'cause if it was anything, it was that.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "All right, that makes sense." She relented. While she really didn't have much experience with it, she imagined fighting the kind of battles Fairy Tail usually fought, one had to have full control over their bodies. And it had to be strong too. "So what do you want me to do then, Gajeel?" She asked him.

The Slayer grinned so widely his whole face lifted. "Gihi! I want ya to do one hundred pushups. Think ya can handle it, Bunny-Girl?" He asked her.

The Celestial mage lifted a challenging eyebrow at him. "What are you trying to say, Gajeel?" She asked him. The big guy just gave her his trademark laugh and a smug look in response. She glared lightly at him. "I'll show you, smartass." She muttered under her breath as she assumed the position for pushups. Honestly, she probably couldn't do a hundred pushups. Actually, she could probably barely do ten.

But even with that realization, she began the one hundred pushups she was told to do. Right about the 10-point mark, she felt like her arms could break under her at any moment.

Gajeel could easily see the blonde's struggles, and only sent her an amused expression. "What the hell's with these girly pushups, Bunny-Girl? Be a man and do proper ones!" He said and roughly pushed her arms closer to her body.

Lucy whipped her head around, her arms shaking under her as she glared at the man. "I _am_ a girl! Of course I do girly pushups!" She retorted, before looking back at the ground and getting ready to continue. "Who are you, Elfman?" She grumbled.

This made the Slayer break out laughing. "What the hell?" He laughed uncontrollably, for no apparent reason. "D'ya think I look like that big guy?" He asked, trying to keep a serious mask, but failing completely. Only a second later, that mask cracked and he rolled around on the floor, tears of joy pouring from his eyes like fountains.

The fit of laughter he'd been trapped in only got enhanced, when the blonde tried taking a pushup with her arms close to her torso and instantly falling to the ground with a thud. Said blonde glared fiercely at the black-haired man. This was going to be a long day.

 **Later~**

"That's it! That's the hundred squats. Now what do you want me to do?" Lucy asked the black haired guy through heavy breathing. The creation of hell had put her through several strengthening exercises, including one where she had to run in place faster and faster, with him yelling by the side for her to go even faster, and at last so fast she could barely see her own feet.

Now, after having her do a hundred squats, the guy had leisurely been lying on the ground with his hands behind his head and closed eyes, just enjoying life while the blonde was killing herself.

After a moment of not getting a reply, the girl got suspicious of her too still 'coach'. She furrowed her eyebrows and glared at him as she marched up to where he was lying. When she heard the light snoring she couldn't hear when she was doing the exercise, she shut her eyes closed in anger, her raised fist's veins bulging dangerously.

" _Gajeel_!" She snarled loudly, slamming her heel down at his chest, flames bursting to life demonically in her eyes and her hair acting just like it. "WAKE UP YOU SLACKER!" She shrieked loudly.

Said slacker was stunned back to life, air forcing its way through his mouth and a painful sensation spreading from his stomach. He looked up at the blonde with a face of realization, having already gotten fairly used to her rough method of waking people up. "Oh. You're finally done." He simply remarked. When he finally stood back up, he dusted himself off. "Okay, now the two of us'll go on a nice run." He said with a grin and began running in a random direction. "See if you can keep up, Bunny-Girl!" He taunted, keeping his pace steady.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, but quickly followed him. She could easily keep up with his pace, it wasn't anything near fast. Happy could probably even keep up. On foot. "What are you planning, Gajeel?" She asked suspiciously, squinting her eyes as if she could see the answer if she did. "Why are we running so slow?" She asked him.

Gajeel growled under his breath at what she was indirectly telling him, while veins were bulging on his forehead in exasperation. "What're you trying to say, Bunny-girl?" He asked, sending her a menacing glare.

Which didn't even make the blonde twitch. "You're planning something, you're going too easy on me." She elaborated, never ceasing the squinting of her eyes.

Gajeel snorted. "Might be." He agreed vaguely, not about to say any more than that.

Lucy left it at that, and the two silently ran past the border of Magnolia city, turning right by the last house and continuing to run forward along the edge of the forest. Finally, she decided it was about time to break that silence. "So, Gajeel." She said, drawing his attention. "Where are you taking me?" She asked him, hoping for an answer.

The Slayer just grinned. "Just around Magnolia. Gihi!" He laughed, seeing her shocked expression and expecting what was coming next.

"WHAT?!" She yelled loudly, although never slowing down her pace. "But that's ridiculously long!" She exclaimed loudly. Magnolia was quite a big city, no doubt about that. Not the biggest, but one of the bigger. After all, the strongest guild didn't just lie out in the middle of nowhere.

Gajeel laughed. "Gihi! This is another part of your 'training', Bunny-Girl." He reassured her, having the time of his life, watching the blonde's soul leaving her body through her mouth.

Lucy sighed and dropped her head down. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" She asked in defeat, seeing no possible outcome where she actually survived this.

He just grunted and smirked. "Tch, if you die by something like this, you shouldn't even be in Fairy Tail." He told her. From just the short time he'd been a part of the guild, he'd found out that the battles this guild participated in weren't the small ones. They were almost literally drawing trouble to them like magnets. But that was what made him like this guild of madmen, all the fighting he got.

Lucy sucked her soul back where it belonged and glared at him. "What do you mean by that, idiot?!" She snarled at him. She had fought to get here, pushed away her father and all the maids, chefs and all the others who worked at the Konzern, those she loved, just to join this guild. And now she was being told she wasn't good enough for it? How could that jackass be so rude!

Gajeel didn't even look down at the blonde as he explained himself. "The life in a guild aren't for weak, little bunnies, Bunny-Girl." He told her. Sure, Phantom Lord was much worse than Fairy Tail ever would be, but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. "Especially if you're in the strongest of them all." He told her and finally looked down at her. "You _do_ know a lot of guilds, both light and dark, are after Fairy Tail, simply because we're the strongest. While the light ones can't do nothin' about it, the dark ones sure as hell can. On top of that, we're expected to take out the bad guys." He told her. "That's what you get for being in the strongest guild." He told her and looked forward again.

Lucy looked curiously up at the black-haired man, who didn't seem much older than her. Where did he get this kind of information from? "How do you know all this?" She asked him.

The Iron Dragon Slayer cracked his neck, feeling some tension in it. "I figured it all out for the most part." He told her. Seeing her skeptic expression, he sent her a challenging eyebrow. "Well, why the hell do you think I bothered to be something big in Phantom. You get shitloads of information about everything, and you can easily figure the rest out if you aren't as stupid as the Salamander." He told her, feeling lightly insulted she hadn't thought him capable of it in the beginning.

The blonde remained silent as she considered what Gajeel had told her. It made sense, it all made sense. It was similar among aristocrats, the one who lay highest - in this case her own father - was always a target for all those under him. He had to be careful with who he invited in, he always told her that.

In the end, she sighed. Her previous life wasn't similar to the one she had now at all, she shouldn't try to compare them. "I guess you're right." She said, boosting the other man's ego involuntarily. She looked up at him again. "So, why're we running around at the speed of old people?" She asked the guy.

Gajeel smirked. "Glad you asked, Bunny-Girl." He told her. "This is for practicing your endurance."

 **Even Later~**

Lucy barely got the gate-like doors to the guild open and tumbled in to the nearest table, which she collapsed over, her arms hanging lifelessly by her sides as she sat in the chair, head meeting table. She felt disgusting with pearls of sweat glistening on her light skin.

The 'nice' run Gajeel had brought her out on had never ever heard of the word 'mercy'. Not only did she have to run who knows how many kilometers around the city, and was ready to die after a quarter around it. No. Gajeel decided to play the devil and forced her to sprint the last quarter of the way. She wasn't even sure how she was still conscious. And the guy hadn't even broken a sweat!

Speaking of the devil, he lazily sauntered in the guild after her, laughing when he saw her dying at the table. "I told ya to find your own pace, Bunny-Girl! Gihi!" He laughed at her, before continuing to stroll up to the bar.

He had told her that over and over again during their eternal run. Find your own pace, Bunny-Girl! You'll run much easier at your own pace! Damn him. He definitely had been trying to kill her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be half unconscious on a table wheezing just to breathe and holding on to life by a mere thread.

"Oh, yeah, Bunny-Girl!" She heard him call out to her. She just grumbled something incomprehensively as his only confirmation she was still conscious. From what he knew anyway. "We're doing this every. Single. Day. Until you are able to do it without breaking a sweat." He said, glee tangible in his voice and the faraway, familiar laughing of his barely reaching her ears.

To this, her reply was simple. "UGH!" She said, depression hanging in the air around her. She couldn't even think properly, and it was definitely because she didn't have enough air in her lungs and the fact that the guild felt like a sauna.

She barely registered someone landing on the seat next to her until that person spoke. "Lu-chan? Are you okay?" A light, feminine voice she recognized as her best friend's asked her. Lucy didn't even feel like lifting her head, and decided on just shaking her head a little. She heard the girl gasp. "Lu-chan! Please keep your soul!" She faintly heard and almost immediately after felt something get forced down her throat.

"LUSHY'S DYING! SOMEONE RETURN HER SOUL!" She heard Happy's high-pitched voice screaming somewhere close to her on the table. "My precious fish~" He whined.

"What?! DON'T DIE ON US, LUCE!" She heard the unmistakable voice of her salmon-haired friend yell loudly next to her and soon after felt her whole body being shaken roughly like a ragdoll without her being able to do anything about it. "COME BACK TO- UGH!" She heard his say loudly before the sound of a collapsed body hitting the floor was heard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, ash for brains?!" She heard Gray's deeper voice say somewhere behind where Natsu had been a moment ago. "How's that supposed to help her?!" He asked his rival angrily.

Another thud accompanied by the sound of a body hitting the floor lifelessly was heard. "What did I tell you two about fighting?" Erza's familiarly firm voice asked the two boys. "And Gray, your clothes." She reminded the Ice Make mage, who immediately began muttering curses as he she assumed he picked up his discarded clothes.

Lucy, now having woken up a bit, her life energy - also commonly referred to as 'air' - having returned to her, managed to calm her breathing and her composure enough to could smile at her team mates. No matter what situation they were in, they would always be their crazy selves.

She heard a low sigh next to her and opened her eyes to see the bluenette halfheartedly glaring at Team Natsu. The smile in her eyes betrayed her act though. "I have no idea how you put up with those three, Lu-chan." She commented, looking back at the blonde and smiling when she saw the brown eyes smiling at her.

She saw Happy's small paws approaching her and soon after felt another of his small paws touching her head. "May you rest in peace, Lushy." He said sadly. "A-and w-we will m-miss yo-your f-f-f-f-FISH!" He finally exclaimed, sobbing openly.

Lucy moaned in exasperation, having recovered enough to could speak again. "Damn… Cat…" She barely managed to say through heavy breathing. She had yet to make it disappear completely. That and the sensation of sitting in a ridiculously hot sauna.

"Ahhh! She's aliiiiivvveeeeeeee!" Happy yelled happily, throwing his small arms around her scalp in a sort of hug. Kind of.

Lucy groaned as she sat up, dropping Happy to her lap and seeing Erza sitting in the seat opposite of hers, looking at her worriedly. She did what she could to smile to the redhead and the bluenette. Although it couldn't amount to much more than a tired frown.

Erza nodded in accept. "It's good to see you so determined, Lucy. This training, although harsh, will surely help you in the future." She said. It sounded like she was defending Gajeel in the blonde's ears. "It is a great and constructive way to overcome your temporary magical weakness." She said proudly.

Levy looked confusedly at Erza, not understanding the last part of what she had said. "'Temporary magical weakness'?" She asked. What did the redhead mean with that?

Lucy turned her head and looked at the smaller girl. "I'll explain it to you later, Levy-chan." She reassured her friend, who sent her a smile back. The blonde then turned to the Requip mage and furrowed her eyebrows. "And how's my near-death experience good in any way?" She asked her.

Erza tilted her head like confused puppy. "Near… Death?" She asked slowly, as if she didn't actually believe what she was saying herself.

Lucy sighed and nodded. "Yes." She confirmed for the redhead. "I have no idea how many times my soul has made its presence during this training." She admitted. Especially that run. And even more especially at the sprint.

Natsu growled next to the table. "That damn Iron Freak!" He said with anger in his voice. "I'll kill him!" He proclaimed loudly, raising a fist covered in wild flames. "You with me, Ice Princess?!" He asked Gray.

Gray nodded, throwing off the clothes he had just been putting on again. "That damn Scrap Metal won't get away with this!" He reassured them all. Without even signaling to each other, the two simultaneously charged at the bigger Iron Dragon Slayer, who'd noticed them from a mile away.

Lucy dropped her head in her hands. "They will never learn, will they?" She asked, lightly shaking her head in her hand. The other three similarly shook their heads.

 **Yeah. Since I have no idea how I should continue it from there, I'm ending it off ^_^"**

 **Well, anyhow, I surprisingly - or not - really enjoyed writing out the loooooooonnnngggggg interaction between Gajeel and Lucy. I don't know, their personalities just… Well, I really don't know XD It's just nice to write!**

 **Nice getting the training started isn't it? Of course, I've learnt from my past mistakes and won't make the training tedious like I did in AMCF - or I will do my best to avoid it anyway. So please tell me if it becomes boring and tedious at any point! Maybe I'll just exclude it entirely or something… Well, we'll see!**

 **Hope you all liked it anyway! Thank you too all of you who reads, follows, favorites and reviews! I love ya!**

 **~Line464d**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **WE'RE AT 100 REVIWS ALREADY! You guys… You spoil me ;3, apart from that, we have also managed to reach over 90 followers and 80 favorites!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors I have made! Read & Review!  
Disclaimer: I've been kinda busy lately, so I haven't had time to nag on our two favorite writers. **

**Earth~**

"Isn't that the girl from the cafeteria?" Akashi heard coincidentally as he stepped through the threshold to his classroom. "Yeah, she is! Is she asleep?" Akashi turned his head and looked in the direction from where the voices came. "Should we wake her up…?" He saw half the class all collected around the corner of the class, in a direct line from the entrance.

Midorima, who had been walking with him, pushed his glasses up, as was his usual habit. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?" He asked no one in particular.

Akashi began walking forward with a blank expression. "I believe I can answer that question for you, Midorima." He told the green-haired boy without looking at him. As he neared the crowd, it naturally split for him, allowing him clear passage.

And as he expected, the blonde he'd come to know some the past little week, was sleeping soundly on the floor against the wall. How she could sleep so peacefully in the middle of a classroom, and how she could even fall asleep in a place like this, was yet another mystery raised about her.

He stared at the blonde, confusion visible on his face if one looked closely enough. "How did she even get here?" He asked himself lowly.

Midorima stood next to him, also instantly recognizing the enigma of a blonde lying on the floor asleep. "I have no idea. But it's probably not the last time we will ask ourselves that question." He commented, his voice lowering with the last sentence. The green haired boy was about to wake the blonde up, when she suddenly jolted awake.

Her gaze sailed over the many unfamiliar faces around her, not even noticing the two faces which were familiar to her. "Where… Am I?" She asked them slowly, continuing to look around at all of them. She saw an extended hand entering her view and followed it till she saw the one it belonged to. "Akashi!" She smiled widely and recognized the other guy with him. "Midorima!" Meanwhile, she did what she could to ignore the confused whispers from the other people around them.

Akashi gave her a little smile in return as he helped her off the floor. "You're at Teiko Middle School, sleeping." He added in the end. How did she not know that?

Midorima asked himself that very same question. How was it possible to sleep somewhere, yet not know where one was? "Excuse me for asking Lucy, but why were you asleep in our classroom?" He finally asked, getting an agreeing mumble from the surrounding people, who'd been wondering the very same thing.

Lucy scratched the back of her head and laughed to procrastinate it however long she could, while she figured something out. "Well…" She trailed off, her mind running a thousand miles per second to figure something out. "It's simply because I have a… Sleeping… Disorder?" She asked herself hesitantly. "Yes! Yes, I have a sleeping disorder!" She decided.

Both of the young boys looked at her confusedly. "A sleeping disorder?" Akashi asked. "What does this entail?" He asked, having a vague suspicion of the answer himself.

"Well…" Lucy started off. "For example that I travel in my sleep a lot and end up weird places. Such as in a classroom." She said and smiled a little at the taller player, having answered his question. "And I can't entirely control when I sleep. Usually it comes very abruptly." She said and sweat dropped. It really was troublesome she couldn't control it. "I might fall asleep within this hour, or it might even be days." She told them, hearing herself how ridiculous it sounded.

"Days?" Midorima asked for clarification. Her response was a single nod. "You stay awake for days?" He asked again, not entirely able to comprehend the concept.

Lucy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I've been told." She told them. Seeing their confused expressions, she decided to elaborate. "I haven't actually tried it yet, but I'm probably going to sometime soon." She said. Sooner or later, she would probably experience it, that's what she understood anyway.

"Oh, I see." The green haired teen simply said. What was this sleeping disorder she was talking about? He had never heard of anything like that before. On the other hand, he hadn't been researching it before, perhaps it was merely uncommon.

Their conversation was put to a halt, when the door at the front of the classroom was opened and closed roughly by the teacher. "Class, assume your seats!" The man said and pushed his glasses up, a trait he definitely had adopted from Midorima.

Without a shadow of hesitation, everyone took their seats, leaving the blonde to look around confusedly, with the two basketball players at the back. They sent her a last glance, not allowed to say anything in class, as was the custom, and sat in their seats as well.

Lucy wondered what she should do, when she got eye-contact with Akashi. He looked briefly at the empty table and chair next to him and then back at her. He wanted her to join class? Could she? It certainly would be interesting, that there was no doubt about.

"You, the last one standing." The teacher said, having seen one person still standing from the corner of his vision, while he unpacked what he would need for the class. "Please sit down." He said.

The blonde sweat dropped and scratched her arm. "Uhm… Sir?" She asked, drawing the man's attention from what he was doing.

He turned around, getting slightly annoyed with this female student. "What is it?" He asked her as he finally turned around, where he was at a complete loss of words. "You… You're that girl… The cafeteria!" He stumbled as his cheeks began heating up.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's me!" She said, glad she was finally recognized to not be a student, although… Now, having the whole class' attention on her, with varying expressions, was another case entirely. "I was wondering if maybe… Is it possible if I could join this class as well, as a student?" She asked. "Of course, I'd be glad to help if I can! But don't count too much on it." She said with a smile.

The teacher nodded almost robotically. "O-of c-course! G-go right a-ahead!" He said and pointed at the empty seat next to Akashi with a shaking finger.

The blonde smiled and nodded, giving a little bow. "Thank you very much!" She said and seated herself on the empty chair.

The teacher lowered his shaking hand again, to get a firm grip on the table instead, just so he was sure he'd be standing up throughout the whole lesson and turned to his students. "P-please do the g-greetings as u-usual." He stammered.

Lucy watched as one student with glasses and plain, black hair stood up. "Stand up!" He called to the class, who immediately did as told. Meanwhile, she wondered if she should participate as well, and decided she should. "Bow!" The student called out, and they all bowed, although Lucy first after figuring out what was going on. "Sit down!" The student finally said, letting the class sit down again. Lucy followed suit interestedly.

The teacher turned around and wrote 'Math' on the blackboard with shaky letters. The whole class cringed, when said teacher dragged the chalk down the board, making a high-pitched screech erupt from it and tearing at their ears. Akashi had a feeling this particular class would be long, but amusing.

 **Later~**

"Is your teacher always like that?" Lucy asked. Throughout the whole class, the teacher had seemed nervous and unable to actually perform as he should. He could barely even write readably on the blackboard, his letters quickly shrunk in size. So much so, it basically ended out becoming just a trembling line.

Akashi smiled and shook his head. "No, it was quite unusual behavior he displayed." He reassured her. As a matter of fact, normally their math teacher was calm and collected and taught them very well actually. But this time… Well, perhaps it wasn't smart to let Lucy join the class, but it was certainly amusing, as he had expected it to be.

The blonde furrowed her brows. While she was glad their teacher wasn't as incompetent as he had seemed that class, she wondered what made the difference. Was it her presence, which for whatever reason made him act the way he did? Ah, she should probably just stick to basketball and the cafeteria instead.

Speaking of the cafeteria, it seemed they had reached it. Right as they stepped inside the big room, it was like they crossed an invisible wall and entered a whole other atmosphere than anything else in the school. It was happy and chatty, not that that was any different than the other days. Well, that is except for those of the male gender present, they seemed to be in a fit of depression.

Lucy heard the familiar sound of a heavy set of footsteps with heels clicking against the linoleum floor. She smiled when she saw the cafeteria lady, Mary delivering plates out with food. "Mary!" She said semi-loudly, drawing the woman's attention, as she began turning towards her. "I'll be right there!" She reassured her.

Without a moment's hesitation, the big cafeteria lady seemingly teleported to the blonde, shaking her head. "No, no, no, Lucy-chan! Go have fun with your friends here!" She said and smiled at her and the two younger boys.

Said blonde tilted her head. "Are you sure you'll be all right? Shouldn't I help you?" Lucy continued, feeling slightly bad for letting the other woman do all the work herself.

Mary nodded furiously. "Absolutely!" She exclaimed and quickly ushered all of them towards the basketball team's usual table, having recognized them all already. "Don't waste your time on ol' me, I'll be fine!" She reassured Lucy as she turned around and made her way back to the desk, where a little line of students were waiting patiently. "Time's not unlimited after all." She commented in a lower voice.

Lucy smiled back at the retreating cafeteria lady gratefully. Oh how she already had grown to love that woman. She was always so kind to her, and let her help even though she wasn't even hers or the school's employee.

Akashi resumed in the direction the cafeteria lady had pushed them. "You really have got no choice in the matter, Lucy." He told her, slightly amused and intrigued by the fact that every person around the blonde seemed to take a liking to her. That included himself as well, of course. Although, that wasn't entirely true, gauging the looks of disdain the other female students were sending his friend. Well, that was to be expected.

The blonde giggled and shook her head. "No, I guess I don't." She agreed and followed the two basketball players to the table she'd seen them sitting at the last two times she'd been at the cafeteria. The entire basketball team was already sitting there it seemed. Almost anyway.

Aomine looked up from where he sat, seeing the blonde, the green-haired one and the redhead approaching them. "Hey, what'cha doing here, Lucy?" He asked the one he hadn't expected to come with his two teammates. "Ain't got no work to do today?" He asked.

Lucy smiled brightly to them all, Aomine's words having caught their attention. "Hi everyone!" She greeted with a little wave. "And yeah, Mary gave me a day off!" She confirmed for him.

The dark-haired teen smiled back at the blonde. "Well, aren't you the lucky one?" He asked her happily. He thought he'd never get a chance to actually talk and have fun with her, since she was always either at the cafeteria or they were playing basketball. Afterwards, she would always just… Disappear. "Don't you want something to eat?" He asked, seeing the table in front of her being completely empty.

The blonde shook her head with a smile. "Oh, no. I had something to eat right before I came here, so there's really no need!" She said. And she truly had had something to eat. At Fairy Tail. Her hunger had increased incredibly much, most likely because of the strenuous training the Iron Dragon had put her through. Which reminded her, in some miraculous way, she did not feel any pain from said training whatsoever. Could it be she was healed when she passed from Earthland to Earth? Or was it because a simple, short walk didn't trigger it? Well, either way she would find out sooner or later which it was.

Nijimura took his chance to talk, now he had the opportunity. "Lucy." He called drawing her attention. "Next Friday, we will be training with a team from another school." He told her, not minding the confused faces of his teammates, who hadn't heard of this before now. "Would you like to come?" He asked her, doing his best to hide the hopeful tone his voice had adopted.

Midorima was the first to react. "Why have we not been informed of this practice game before now?" He asked his upperclassman.

The captain sighed in slight exasperation that he wouldn't be getting an answer from the blonde before he had answered the green haired boy. "Because we aren't even sure who we'll be up against." He told them. And he quickly answered the question he knew would come from him as a follow-up. "And by 'we' I mean myself, coach and Momoi." He said and turned to the blonde to get his answer.

Only to find her looking around the table, seatching for someone or something. "Say, where is Sat-chan?" She asked no one in particular, not seeing the pinkette anywhere at their table.

Akashi quickly scanned the room after validating the blonde's statement and found the pinkette sitting with her girlfriends at another table, completely oblivious to the presence of said blonde. "It would seem she chose to sit with her friends over there." He said, gesturing in the direction with a single nod.

Lucy turned in the designated direction and also swiftly spotted the bubbly younger girl, completely overseeing the black haired captain, who fruitlessly tried to come into contact with her. "Oh, I see her. Thank you Akashi!" She thanked the redhead.

Suddenly she felt a heavy arm snaking around her shoulder. "Heyy, look at what we've got here. Never thought I'd see you at our table Lucy." She heard a deep voice say. Another arm from same man reached over the table and took something from Murasakibara's overly full plastic-bag. "You can share, right Murasakibara?" Haizaki asked, the grin he was surely wearing on his face audible in his voice.

The purple-haired teen grabbed his teammate's hand before it had even reached the bag in a tight grip. "Don't touch my food." He warned the other guy menacingly.

Meanwhile, Akashi, who had been eating his bento with the dignity of an aristocrat, put his chopsticks down, but didn't even look as he spoke to Haizaki. "Haizaki, it's inappropriate to eat other's lunch." He said and finally looked up at the one he was speaking with. "Please get your own." He told him as he unobtrusively swatted the other basket player's hand away from the blonde's shoulder, before his captain exploded.

Lucy sent Akashi a grateful smile, having tried to find some way to get Haizaki off her, but without result. Unfortunately she quickly found out he wouldn't see it, as he and the white haired teen were having a stare-down, Akashi with his usual calm but firm gaze and the other with an angry glare.

The blonde sighed as she once again racked her brain to stop the rising tension between the two, but Nijimura cut her to it. "Would you two stop that?" He half ordered half asked them.

The white haired teen turned his glare to his captain and clenched his jaw. "Tch, I see how it is." He said through gritted teeth. After a moment, his glare turned into a grin. "I haven't given up yet, y'know." He said as he turned around and leisurely walked back out of the cafeteria.

Midorima sighed in suppressed exasperation and pushed his glasses up just right, so the lights reflected in them. "I expect this won't be the last time he will make a scene such as this." He commented. The surrounding people nodded in agreement, with varying 'excitement' at the fact. Lucy looked around confusedly, not understanding the silent conversation going on between the whole team.

The captain of the team turned to the blonde, finally able to repeat his question. "So, Lucy-" This time, it was the clock, which cut the young teen off. "Oh, goddammit!" He growled to himself.

Lucy giggled, having noticed his struggles at trying to come through to her. "I'll be coming, Nijimura." She told him with a smile, which he returned, although not equal in size. She pushed her chair back and stood up, after quickly making sure her skirt didn't reveal anything unnecessary. "Well, I'll see you all later, right?" She asked them, getting various different answers of agreement.

She waved at them as she exited the cafeteria, knowing already there was no chance of Mary letting her help out with cleaning, and made her way to the gym a little earlier than usual. Although she quickly found it a bit difficult, as the entire school was heading for class at that very moment. But somehow, she managed to push through the big crowd and to the familiar gym.

As usual, she quickly pulled out the things necessary for the team's practice and then picked up a ball of her own as well, continuing to practice of her own. She practiced scoring in the net from different angels, but when she tried to run, she quickly felt the training she had undergone at Earthland working through her muscles in floods of pain.

She tried. She really, really tried. Tried to remember and convince herself that the pains which ached through her entire body were 'good' pains. They were 'healthy', meant she was doing something 'right'. But there were so many points pulling her in the other direction.

However, of course that didn't mean she went easy on herself, instead she decided to just push through, so she could get used to it before having to do it again back with Gajeel. She knew he for sure would give her a hard time, especially now she had these pains. She was so unbelievably relieved she now had the weird healing abilities from the travelling between worlds to help her along.

In the end, she found herself fairly good at scoring, especially outside the three-point arc, where she scored eight out of ten times, whereas she only scored around seven out of ten times inside it. Or something like it anyway. It got much easier since Aomine had given her the tip with hitting the little square-thig on the board.

However, she found it a little lonesome, being the only person in the big, empty gym, training with one ball all alone. But of course, who should she do this with? She was far, far from the level of the 1st string. And even if she was on the 3rd string's level, which she wasn't as she still had never tried actually playing it against someone, she wasn't a part of the school _or_ the basketball team. Not even as a co-manager. Basically she was just moral support, if she even was anything. Actually, she was just a simple spectator watching their training and then trying her luck with it herself when she was alone. A mere spectator.

Well, that also meant she would have to truly observe their training. Even if it was infinitely many levels above her own, surely she could also learn some things from it. Well, she would just have to listen intently to what Sanada-san told the team and watch just as closely when they played against each other.

Right as she went to pick up the ball for the millionth time that day, she heard approaching footsteps from the entrance. "LUCY-CHAN!" She heard as she looked up, only managing to see the peach-pink flash before she was forced to the ground with the additional weight of an overexcited person.

Lucy smiled as she greeted Momoi, who was currently restraining her to the ground. Again. As usual. It really didn't hurt her butt as much as it once had. Had it already gotten used to the rough treatment? Amazing how butts worked.

Momoi beamed at her. Then the pinkette noticed the orange ball lying on the floor next to the blonde. "Were you playing basketball?" She asked the other girl excitedly.

Lucy hesitantly nodded her head. "Yeah, I were trying anyway." She said. "I'm not good at it though. At all." She quickly added.

The pinkette giggled and crawled off Lucy, picking up the basketball and sitting on the floor next to her, gently playing with the round piece of rubber in her hands. "You have only known the sport for less than a week, how could you be?" She asked the blonde with a smile.

Lucy pushed off the ground with a smile and steadied herself with her hands on the floor. "I guess you're right." She agreed. She had almost forgotten she hadn't even known everyone for less than a week. After all, for her it was about double the time.

Momoi got up on her feet and dribbled the ball on the ground. Not expertly as the team did, but it was still clear it wasn't the first time she was holding a ball between her hands. "Well, being around those naturally talented people of the team doesn't really boost our self-confidence either." She said with a smile as she caught the ball again, holding it still.

"Ahh, come on. We can't be _that_ bad, Satsuki." A familiar voice called from the entrance. The girls looked up to see the entire basketball team standing at the entrance, among which the owner of the voice, Aomine, also stood.

Steadying the ball and her free hand to her hips, she glared lightly at the blue haired teen. "Yes, you are!" She argued back.

Their captain stepped in before their argument could continue further. "Come on, we're getting ready for training to begin." He said and pushed through the crowd, towards the changing rooms.

Without much delay, the rest of the team followed their captain to the changing rooms, although some with a few grumbles here and there.

Lucy and Momoi played a little game of amateur basket against each other, when they were interrupted by the coach. "Excuse me." He said and cleared his throat, making their playing cease almost immediately and drawing their attention.

The pinkette smiled and turned to the coach. "Yes, what is it Sanada-san?" She asked him, while wondering what it could be about.

Sanada momentarily glanced at the blonde before answering. "As you know, next Friday we have a practice match against Ryoma Middle School. I would like you to gather a bit of intel on them, as it is likely we will be playing against them later on, when it is not merely a practice game." He told her.

Momoi smiled and nodded. "Yes! Of course!" She said excitedly.

The older man nodded. "Thank you, it is much appreciated." He said and started walking off in another direction. "Oh yes." He said and turned around pushing his glasses up in a Midorima-like way. "Of course, it does not have to be today. As long as it is before Thursday next week." He told her. Momoi eagerly nodded back affirmatively.

Meanwhile, the blonde had been standing by a little confused. "Gathering intel?" She asked in what she had thought was a low voice, while she would figure out what was going on.

But it wasn't. "Yep, gathering intel!" Momoi said happily. "That's another part of being a manager." She told her. She leaned forward and raised a finger. "And the most fun part!" She said with a smile and a wink.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, but still couldn't resist the contagious smile the pinkette was giving her. "What do you mean, Sat-chan?" She asked her, a bit of amusement revealing itself in her voice. She could feel in the way her younger friend was behaving, that it would be something entertaining, probably.

Said pinkette just smiled wider. "These teams are pure guys, Lucy." Momoi reminded her. Now Lucy got what the other girl was implying. And she smiled as well. "Guys are all the same, don't you agree?" She asked, giggling a little.

Lucy thought back to the time before she had joined Fairy Tail, where she got - or rather _made sure_ she got - a discount on the keys she bought. She nodded with a smile. "They're truly the same." She said and giggled. "Show them a little skin and they're sold." She said.

Momoi giggled, already seeing what the blonde was telling her. She had yet to actually try to gather intel on another team before, but she could already see older girl making it much more fun than she could ever make it be herself. "I'm already looking forward to it! Will you come with me, Lucy-chan?" She asked her excitedly, really hoping for an affirmative answer.

The mage smiled widely, almost beamed like the sun itself, at her and nodded quickly. "I would love to!" She said, getting just as eager as the younger girl just by watching her.

"Yay!" She said happily and loudly. "Thank you, Lucy-chan!" She thanked the older in a whine-like high pitch.

"Do you _have_ to be so loud, Satsuki?" Aomine complained as he appeared with his finger in his ear, as if he had been shouted directly into his face.

Momoi glared at him. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." She told him firmly, with a voice which took no resistance. Kind of similar to how Erza's was once in a while, although not as sharp as the redhead's could be.

Sanada blew once in his whistle, effectively shutting them all up, the rest of the team having filtered in after the blue-haired guy. "Training has begun! Pick up a ball!" He yelled at them all.

 **Later~**

"So, Lucy-chan, when do you think we should pay Ryoma Middle School's basketball team a visit?" Momoi asked her excitedly, already looking forward to the event.

The practice had already ended a while ago and currently Lucy, Momoi and Aomine were sitting together, waiting for Momoi's parents to pick her up, where afterwards Aomine would bike home and Lucy… Well, wait till she fell asleep so she could also go home. It had been an exceptionally long day on Earth for her, the longest yet and she was curious as to how long it would continue.

Aomine sat with crossed arms behind his head and leaned back on the wall. "Those were the team we are going to play next Friday, right?" He asked them, in need for confirmation.

Lucy raised an eyebrow and looked at him amusedly. "What? Don't tell me you've already forgotten?" She teased him.

Aomine looked at her from the corner of his eye with a grin. "Sure. With all this knowledge stuffed into my head, I can't remember every single detail, can I?" He responded.

Momoi shook her head with a giggle. "Yeah, if only that were true." She said and stared at the parking lot, which was in a direct line from where they all sat. Just to piss Aomine off further.

And as expected, it also worked. "Are you trying to say I'm stupid?!" He asked her in an uproar, leaning forward with a jolt of movement and glaring - not genuinely - at his pink haired childhood friend, who sat on the other side of Lucy.

Momoi met his gaze with the same intensity and nodded. "I'm not 'trying', I am." She told him with sharp voice.

Lucy sweat dropped as she saw the sparks of angry lightning being sent from one person to another across her. And then she decided she'd try to stop it. "Uhm, any day is fine with me, Sat-chan. You can go ahead and pick one." She told the younger girl.

The pinkette quickly broke off from Aomine and smiled at Lucy. "Okay, what about Tuesday then?" She asked.

The blonde smiled and nodded. "Sure, Tuesday it is." She agreed. That way, the boys would know in advance so they had enough time to adjust and practice it, but also enough time to figure out strategies. Or, well, if that was even needed since it was just a practice match.

Aomine watched as the girls sent each other a secretive gaze before breaking out into fits of giggles and quickly found himself feeling left out and infinitely curious. "Say, just how do the two of you plan to get information out of those guys?" He asked them curiously.

Lucy and Momoi both sent him amused expressions and the pinkette a giggled. "Why, we will utilize our feminine charm, of course." Lucy answered with a barely contained laugh at the boy's expression. Momoi on the other hand had no regrets whatsoever as she freely broke out laughing.

Aomine watched the both of them in slight confusion and a load of surprise. "You're WHAT?!" He blurted out, to which they only nodded smilingly. He furrowed his eyebrows and cocked his head a little. "Isn't it stupid to take Satsuki with you then, Lucy?" He asked her with a grin.

He quickly jumped off the bench, when Momoi shot off it as well, chasing after the laughing teen like a whirlwind of rage, while he effortlessly avoided said whirlwind. He didn't make it too obvious though, just outside her reach. Whether that was to tease her or spare her was the mystery question.

Their chase was cut off by a car turning in on the parking lot and honking to declare its arrival. Momoi quickly recognized it as her mother's car and waved at the other two with a smile. "See you!" She said.

Lucy smiled and waved back, while Aomine looked a little thoughtful. "I think I'll practice a little before going home." He stated and gestured towards the 3rd string gym.

Momoi widened her eyes and quickly shook her head. "No! Don't!" She warned him. When he sent her a half irritated gaze, she crossed her arms and elaborated, although hints of slight fear showed on her face. "It's s-said the 3rd string gym is h-haunted by a gh-ghost!" She stammered out. The car honked again impatiently. The pinkette quickly glanced back at the car, then looked back at Aomine again. "Don't go in there, Dai-chan." She told him, before she turned around again and ran to the car with a smile.

Lucy, having been silently watching their conversation with a smile, glanced up at Aomine. "You're going to go in there anyway, right?" She asked him, to which she was just answered with a grin. She smiled and shook her head, when something fell into place in her mind. "Wait.." She said, stopping Aomine in his trek towards the gym. "The 3rd string gym?" She asked and got a 'yeah, so what' expression from the teen. She sighed, remembering back to when she had watched the 3rd string play in the gym. "I saw the 3rd string play in the gym where you guys usually practice…" She trailed off, knowing he would understand her unspoken question.

Aomine suppressed a sigh of irritation. "Yeah, they do that sometimes." He said exasperatedly. Couldn't they understand they had a gym of their own? "That's because we probably have a better and cleaner court." He told her and turned around again thoughtfully. "And probably because they want to also feel the glory and honor of training in the 1st string's gym." He said with a grin over his shoulder.

Lucy laughed and shook her head. "'Honor'? 'Glory'?" She asked him with a smile. "Don't you think you're overestimating it a little?" She asked him and followed him on his way to the 3rd string hall, as she was feeling no signs of her return to Earthland yet.

The blue haired basketball player grinned and shook his head in disagreement. In just a moment they had reached the 3rd string's gym hall and heard the unmistakably familiar sound of a dribbling basketball. They exchanged gazes, before changing to a more serious mood as they neared the gym. Maybe it really was haunted.

They sneaked closer to the entrance to the building and peeked in through the barely open door. At first, it seemed like the basketball was moving on its own, but soon Lucy noticed the young boy with the bright blue hair practicing basketball. The blonde smiled as she recognized the younger boy playing by himself on the court.

On the other hand, Lucy felt the tension in Aomine and looked up to see his gaze roamed around trying to find the force dribbling the ball around. "Satsuki was right…" He whispered, as if afraid to be noticed by the 'ghost'.

Lucy giggled and shook her head. "No. Try to focus, Aomine. He's right there." She said with a low voice, as she didn't want to disturb the boy, and gestured to the dribbling ball in the middle of the court. "Can't you see him?" She asked and turned to Aomine.

He squinted his eyes and leaned a little forward as he tried and focused on seeing the person the blonde had mentioned. And suddenly, he could. "I see him! How in the hell could I miss a person with that kind of hair color?!" He asked himself loudly enough to actually draw the attention of the boy.

Lucy deadpanned as she watched Aomine approach the boy. "Like you're one to talk." She muttered to herself, as the one she had been talking about was already out of earshot.

"Hey you!" The tanned boy called out to the smaller boy, who turned his piercing, sea-blue eyes towards him. "Are you playing basketball alone?" He asked him.

The bright blue-haired boy nodded curtly, catching the ball in both of his hands. "Yes, I am practicing basketball on my own." The boy stated.

Aomine grinned widely. "All right! What'a'ya say I jo-"

" _We_ " Lucy corrected him, having found out what he was about to suggest, as she skipped up next him with a bright smile.

The dark blue-haired boy nodded. "What'a'ya say _we_ join you…?" He trailed off, indirectly asking for his name.

The boy turned to him and nodded. "It would be my pleasure." He said and held the ball with one hand, extending the other for a handshake. "I'm Tetsuya Kuroko. May I ask for your names?" He asked the both of them.

Aomine grinned widely and took his hand. "I'm Daiki Aomine." He introduced himself and gestured to Lucy with a nod of his head. "And this is Lucy Heartfilia." He introduced the blonde.

Lucy smiled and gave Kuroko a little wave. "We meet again, Kuroko." She said with a smile.

 **Jup, jup. You should know I like to end things off like that. And I do. As I imagine you can imagine what'll happen from then on. If not, I will somehow let it make sense… Actually, I probably will anyway XD At some point or another**

 **So, I found out, against what I had previously though obviously, and I don't know how I missed it honestly, that the 1** **st** **, 2** **nd** **and 3** **rd** **strings have different gyms. Again, I can't explain how I missed it, but I did nonetheless. So… Yeah. Hope I somehow didn't make my not knowing it too obvious in the text and got it cleared up and all those wonderful things.**

 **You have no idea how long this chapter took me to write though -_-" It just hung around unfinished on my pc for two weeks before I could pull myself together and finish it. That is way too long. Honestleeehhhh**

 **Also somewhat of an** _ **IMPORTANT MESSAGE,**_ **yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, I'm kinda still needing some ideas as to what Lucy should do with these guys. As well as, if you guys even know, what the competitions for Middle Schools are called. Like the Interhigh and the Winter Cup for the High Schools. So far, I only have Interhigh Junior, which is all right I guess, and then Frosty Tournament… And, well… That just doesn't work, right? XD Anywho, the most important is actually something Lucy'll do with the team. I have a training camp of some sorts planned, but that's not yet, of course. So… Yeah, if you please ^_^**

 **Anyway, ignoring my ranting, thank you for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! It is as usual much appreciated!**

 **~Line464d**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Back again everyone! Ready to enter the known world of cannon? XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: It's getting hard to figure out what kinds of different things to say here every time - especially since no one seems to appreciate it _" - but it's even harder to convince the old-timers to hand over their stories!**

 **At Earthland~**

As with all the other times Lucy stumbled inside the guild, every single muscle in her body aching after training with the monster known as Black Steel Gajeel. Ha! That rhymed! Why hadn't she noticed that earlier?

Although, for once she didn't stumble in there alone, Gajeel had showed her the mercy and kindness the gods had bestowed upon him and was, for the first time ever since they began, actually helping her walk in the weakened state she was. Whether it was just so he had something to laugh about or because he actually wanted to help was the million-Jewel question.

Four days. For four days she had been doing this consecutively with the hellish creature known as the Iron Dragon Slayer. And she had survived! So far anyway.

Unfortunately, the second day Gajeel hadn't gone easy on her at all, even though she were having aches all over from the training the day before and felt like she was going through a wringer just by making a single push-up. Not that she expected or wanted him to anyway, she didn't want her training to get loose at any point in time. On the other hand, she hadn't expected to reveal her secret, which wasn't actually a secret, about travelling worlds to the Slayer quite yet. But, as luck would have it, she passed out from a mixture of pain and exhaustion.

So, after discovering what a weekend was at Earth and finding out nothing special happened those days, she returned to Earthland after playing a little with Kuroko, who she had gotten quite close to, at the gym in a completely empty school while she ignored the shockwaves of pain she felt racing through her body doing the simple act of dribbling the ball. At the meantime, only five minutes had passed at Earthland, and she woke up to a confused and somewhat worried and bewildered Gajeel, although he really did a good job concealing it, demanding answers. Of course, he hadn't believed her right off the bat, but when she reminded him she had literally disappeared in front of his eyes, he was more or less convinced. Even though he didn't outwardly show it.

Luckily Levy knew it too now, she just couldn't keep a secret from that girl. And it proved wonderful to could talk about it all with someone who were actually sane - in contrast to her own team - on Earthland too.

Although since, while he didn't make the schedule any less strict, when he saw she was at the point of passing out, not when she yelled she was dying - which she did many times over - but when he judged she was, he would let her off. For five minutes, then she could start again where she had stopped. On top of that, he also got the bright idea of increasing her endurance magically too, ordering her to keep a Spirit out while she did all this.

And now, without any of the mercy he had previously shown he dumped her down on one of the chairs, probably purposefully hard enough for her ass to hurt and forcing her to grunt. "Gajeel, come on, be nice to me." She whined exhaustedly at the brute of a man.

Gajeel smirked as he landed next to her. "Tch, you have it easy Bunny-Girl. With that healing shit when you go to and back from Earth or whatever, you feel nothing compared to the agony you should be going through." He commented with a wide, sadistic grin. Lucy moaned just at the thought of it, only causing the Dragon Slayer to laugh.

The blonde just laid down on the table with her disgustingly sweaty forehead on her arms and muttered unintelligible curses at the black-haired man. Normally, she didn't think the guy was too bad, but right now… Nope. She didn't like him right now.

She vaguely registered a pair of light, clacking footsteps approaching and stopping next to her, followed up with a softly tingling giggle. "The usual, Lucy?" Mira's sweetly clinging voice asked her.

Lucy's head almost whipped up at the woman she knew stood in front of her and practically beamed at her like a little child. "Yes! Yes please, Mira!" She said. Right at that moment, the white-haired barmaid seemed like a gleaming goddess in her eyes. There was nothing she would love more right now than the wonderful strawberry milkshake the wonderful barmaid could make for her.

"Nah, just water." Gajeel intercepted with a smug smile, which only widened when Lucy slowly turned her head and sent him a steely glare. "You ain't gettin' no damn milkshake, Bunny-Girl." He told her.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him angrily. What the heck made him think that was his decision? "And why is that, Gajeel?" She sneered at him, not having the energy reserves she needed to deal with him at the moment.

The big man just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Of course, if you wanna have the training be useless, then go ahead." He said. After thinking for a moment, she sighed in defeat and slowly nodded. She hated to admit it, but he was right, they weren't the healthies sort of drinks. Gajeel smirked at her defeat and turned to the demon barmaid. "Get us some water." He told her.

Seeing the lightly scolding expression Mira sent Gajeel, Lucy watched hopelessly as the barmaid walked off to get them some water, seeing her most loved one - the strawberry milkshake - walking off with her, never to come back again, she almost wanted to cry.

Instead, containing her raging emotions, probably a side effect of her exhaustion, she turned to the man next to her, offering him a glare rivaling the ones Mira and Erza could produce sometimes. "Do you _have_ to suck _all_ the joy and happiness out of me _just_ because I'm in the middle of training?" She whined childishly at him.

Gajeel snorted at her outburst. "You're exaggerating, Bunny-Girl. I'm not taking 'all' of your happiness and joy, only a lot of it." He shot back with a grin. "But if ya wanna give in now, then…" He said and gestured to the approaching barmaid with a nod of his head.

And right then, Mira reached the table and put down a pair of glasses as well as a jug of water. She gave them both a kind smile as Lucy leaned back and away from the table. "I believe Master has an important message he wants to tell all of us, so please don't leave the guild just yet." She said as she gracefully poured clear, glinting, delicious water into the glasses.

At the sight of the transparent liquid, Lucy suddenly felt like her mouth was a desert and resisted the urge to smack her tongue against her palate as she stared at the delicious water falling from the jug to the glass. "Don't worry about that, Mira. I won't be moving anytime soon." She declared without ever tearing her gaze from the water, waiting in anticipation for the time it would flood down her dry mouth and throat and quench her thirst.

Mira smiled and nodded, put down the still half full jug, before making her way back to her bar, resuming her polishing of glasses.

Even though it strode against every single signal her body sent her, she didn't immediately wolf down the water. No, she wouldn't let Gajeel have the pleasure of seeing her so obviously succumbing to her own desires and instincts, because if she did, there was no doubt he would have the time of his life.

She reached out to the glass, took it with as much self-control as she could muster at the moment, and then way too slowly according to her mouth brought it to her lips and gently sipped on the holy liquid against any and all drought.

She felt the Iron Dragon Slayer's amused gaze on her, watching her every movement for anything to tease her with. But she wouldn't offer him any such chance, as she continued to calmly drink the water.

She closed her eyes as she savored both the taste and the feeling of the cold water running down the desert, which was her throat. She could feel it throughout her whole body, making her relax the tension she had apparently had from her thirst.

Which she had gotten from her training. Speaking of, the suggestion Gajeel made right then of quitting training really was attractive right at that moment. Not only was the sensation of dying under his sadistic rule every - second, for her - day not something she particularly enjoyed, to put it mildly, the thirst she was feeling now, which she was only 'allowed' to quench with water, according to the spawn of a devil anyway.

It wasn't right for water to taste or feel so good. Maybe it was just her upbringing which spoke through her, but everyone should have enough water to never feel as thirsty as she did just a moment ago. Sure, it was because she had been training, and had used her body and all that good stuff, and it was healthy too, but still…

She would always be so tired the rest of the day and Gajeel demanded they'd train as early as possible, whenever he got up. Which was around 10 am. That meant around 12 hours where she just stumbled around in a half sleep-state, worrying if she would just suddenly fall asleep and disappear in front of everyone. Not that she didn't want them to know, she just didn't want them to know that way.

On top of all that, the pain and aches she would have after training would always be worst the following day. In other words, every time she went to Earth. How could she tell those guys what she was doing? More so, why she was doing it. After all, it was to get stronger physically, so she wouldn't have to rely purely on Celestial magic. But that wouldn't make sense to them at all, and if she actually tried explaining her magical abilities and her friends', then there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the team would think her crazy.

So yeah, if you asked her, she had plenty of reasons to abandon that training. But at the same time, the reasons not to weighed even heavier.

As already stated, she did this training so that she had more ways of protecting herself than just her Spirits, in case she ever got in a position where she couldn't use her magic for whatever reason, she would still have her own physical strength. That was the idea of it anyway.

It would be increasingly important for her in the following time. She knew that now. Her Celestial magic probably wouldn't be enough for her to protect herself if she ever had to fight harder battles. Honestly, it didn't even have to be that tough opponents, she had found that out at her latest mission.

Which was all the more reason for her to get this training. She desperately needed to get stronger. Especially with Fairy Tail always having a habit of getting themselves into trouble. As Gajeel had said, because Fairy Tail was the strongest guild of them all, she was bound to get into fights, where her Celestial magic wouldn't be enough for her to could handle herself.

Of course, she didn't want to be a liability for her team or Fairy Tail should they get in a situation like that. Especially her team. They were the ones who had to hang on her the most. It was true they more or less all agreed with each other that no matter the case they would protect her till she got stronger and at any time she needed them to.

But it wasn't just about whether they wanted to protect her or not, because she knew they would. It was also her guilty conscience which played a big part in it. She, as seen just a few days ago, would blame herself and her weakness if she was knocked out. If they failed a mission - which they had yet to do, actually - it would also be because of her. All the times the others had to fight another opponent, it was because of her. If they all had to hold or pull back, it would be because of her. Because of her weakness.

That was why she had to get stronger. Much, much stronger than she was now. Strong enough to could protect herself, strong enough to not be a burden to everyone, strong enough to could complete their missions without needing help. That was how strong she had to get.

And if not for her own conscience's sake, then for the sake of her secret. If she was knocked out or the like during a mission, she would go to Earth. Bruised and bloody, and probably with torn clothes too, she would show up in front of the team. Just how was she supposed to explain herself? Or survive the embarrassment for that ma-

"Lucy!" She heard someone call loudly and jolted in surprise as she was nudged roughly by the one sitting beside her. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that even if Magnolia exploded behind her, she wouldn't have noticed it. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" Gray asked as he approached her.

She realized she had probably missed something quite important in the duration in which she had been running through a stream of thoughts and laughed a little nervously. "Well…" She trailed off, not sure what she was supposed to say.

She heard a grunt behind her and turned just in time to see Gajeel lean back with his hands behind his head and closed eyes. "You ain't getting anything from her, Icecube." He said and cracked an amused eye open. "She wasn't listening to Master's speech at all." He said with a snort.

Erza appeared next to Gray with her arms crossed as well, although not as if she was mad. "Is this true, Lucy?" She asked the blonde firmly.

Lucy felt the sweat forming and trickling down her forehead at the intense gaze Erza was sending her. "I… Might have… You know, spaced off somewhere along the way…" She trailed off slowly.

Happy began laughing loudly at the blonde. "Even Natsu listened to it! Lucy's stupid!" He mocked her.

Lucy's brown glare was aimed at Happy until Natsu began obnoxiously laughing next to his friend. Her glare quickly went from the winged cat to the _pink_ -haired guy. "Well, contrary to _someone_ , I actually have a lot to think about." She said pointedly and crossed her arms.

Natsu just laughed harder and pointed at Gray while holding his stomach. "Ahahah! Ice-Queen! She's talking about you!" He somehow managed to get out between his fits of laughter.

The Ice Make mage simply lifted a single eyebrow as the only sign of his disbelief. "I'm amazed, Fire-Breath." He said, getting a curious expression from the Fire Dragon Slayer. "You've actually gotten even more stupid than before." He said. It took a minute for him to understand what his rival told him, before he jumped and attacked him in a fit of rage instead.

Lucy and Erza just ignored their teammates, as per usual, and the blonde tilted her head just a little as she looked at the redheaded knight. "So… What did I miss?" She asked her friend.

"Ohh, you know, Bunny-Girl." Gajeel started out behind her. "Just that you guys'll be beating one of the strongest dark guilds tomorrow." He said nonchalantly, but with a big, wide grin on his face.

The blonde kept silent for a moment, letting what he said sink in. "WHAT?!" She then suddenly almost screamed out loud.

Erza nodded. "Yes, we will be taking out Oración Seis, one of the top three guilds of the Balam Alliance." The Requip mage told her.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She couldn't remember ever hearing of anything like it before. Of course, she hadn't been in Fairy Tail too long either. "The Balam Alliance? Oración Seis?" She asked confusedly.

The Iron Dragon Slayer sighed behind her. "Tch, you're too clueless, Bunny-Girl." He told her. "The Balam Alliance is just three guilds holding all the power and having formed an alliance." He grunted out.

The redhead nodded in agreement. "Yes. The three strongest dark guilds, Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. And Raven Tail too, actually, they just stand by themselves." She said, while the blonde listened attentively to everything she said. "These three, as Gajeel stated, 'hold all the power', in other words, they each have a lot of smaller dark guilds under them." She said and seemed to think for a moment. "For example, as far as I remember, Eisenwald was under Oración Seis." She said, seeing the recognition flash past the blonde's face.

Lucy nodded slowly. "So… How much stronger than Eisenwald is Oración Seis exactly?" Lucy asked, feeling worry bubble in her stomach. She remembered Eisenwald being really difficult back when they fought them. And since Oración Seis were even stronger than that…

That would be around where Gajeel broke out laughing. "Gihi! Wha'cha think, Bunny-Girl?" He laughed. "They ain't anywhere _close_ to each other!" He said, still laughing. "I guess your blonde side is showing today."

A bam was heard and suddenly the big, bulky Iron Dragon Slayer lay on the floor with and angry red mark similar to that of a foot on his cheek, completely knocked out. Meanwhile, Lucy sat with her arms crossed and an angry expression.

Erza, failing to suppress an amused smile, looked at the now angry blonde. "Indeed it is as Gajeel said. I am afraid Oración Seis is far superior to Eisenwald. Perhaps even as strong as us." She said with a little shake of her head. "It is hard to know as they do not relinquish much information about themselves. Especially Oración Seis are incredibly secretive." Erza commented.

"No doubt about that." Gajeel agreed, having magically awakened from his unconsciousness. "Gotta give them some credit though. They're only six people and still they're one of the three strongest." He said semi-thoughtfully.

Lucy slowly turned her head and looked at the Iron Slayer. "What…?" She asked in a low voice. If they only were six people, yet had control of so many dark guilds and maybe even were as strong as Fairy Tail… They had to be incredibly strong! Much stronger than anyone or anything she had ever faced before… And she had _just_ been thinking about it.

It was all as Gajeel had told her. Fairy Tail was the strongest guild in all of Fiore, and therefore they were expected to take down guilds like Oración Seis and Phantom Lord. And later on probably also Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. And that was exactly why she had to train with the spawn of hell so she was prepared for these big battles she was sure to at least take part in.

Erza gave the blonde a little smile, having a vague idea what was going through her friend's head. "Not to worry, Lucy. It is not only the four of us from Fairy Tail-"

"WHAT?!" Lucy said even louder, then shrunk a little in embarrassment at the attention she quickly got, but then forgot it again. Erza had said that as if it was only Team Natsu who were going! "What do you mean just the 'four' of us?" She asked the redhead quickly, her sentence was almost not understandable.

The Iron Dragon Slayer grunted next to her. "Yeah. It's _only_ the four of you." He said with an annoyed expression and crossed arms. "Five if you count the cat." He grumbled like a dissatisfied, little child who had been told he wouldn't get any candy.

Lucy would have laughed at the immaturity of the Dragon Slayer, but was completely speechless. Just the four of them and a blue cat? How were they ever going to beat this guild? Not only were Oración Seis more people than they were, they were likely also as strong as Laxus! Each, that was. She didn't dare to think it… But maybe even stronger.

Erza smiled at the worry the blonde was clearly excluding. And put a hand on her shoulder. "We will help and support you any way we can Lucy-"

"YEAH!" Natsu and Gray agreed loudly behind her, pumping a fist in the air.

The Requip mage continued as if those two hadn't even interrupted her. "And I am certain everyone else will as well." She reassured the Celestial mage.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Everyone else? Who else is going to be there?" She asked the redhead confusedly. She'd gotten the impression it would only be the five of them.

Erza nodded. "Yes, as I was saying before, the light guilds too have made an alliance. This one consists of us, Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter which will each send some of their strongest members to take down Oración Seis." She explained to the blonde.

The Celestial mage nodded her head slowly. "All right." So that increased their chances of beating them. "But why is it first now we try to take them down?" She asked. If the light guilds had the power to beat the dark guilds, surely they would have done so earlier.

"It's because they've been drawing enough attention to themselves for the damn Council to begin getting anxious." Gajeel said. "Damn idiots stretch it out till it's almost too late." He grumbled.

The knight gave the Iron Slayer a strict look before explaining it herself. "It is as Gajeel said, Oración Seis seem to have been taking some suspicious actions recently and that is why the Magic Council has asked us and the other three guilds to work together on disbanding the guild." She told Lucy.

While it was an answer, it wasn't exactly what the blonde had been looking for. "Yeah, but why not earlier? If we had had the strength we needed to bring down a dark guild, why didn't we do it?" She wondered out loud.

"Good point, Bunny-Girl. But deal is if we begin messing with one of the big dark guilds, the others will begin moving around too." The black-haired Dragon Slayer told her. Erza simply nodded in agreement. "So, the old farts procrastinated it for as long as they could, that's all there is to it." He said.

Lucy nodded. Right, so when Oración Seis were defeated, it would make the dark guilds' alliance tremble and cause the other two big guilds to either aim for Fairy Tail and the other light guilds or hurry to complete whatever goals they had planned. Either way, as one of the strongest light guilds, Fairy Tail would be expected to fight and defeat them.

Gajeel noticed the blonde tensing up a little and crossed his arms behind his head. "You should go home and rest Bunny-Girl, you're about to fall asleep." He said.

Lucy looked at him, smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." She agreed with him, silently thanking him for his indirect help relaxing her nerves.

She got up from her seat, promised to meet her team at the guild as soon as she woke up so they could take off, did her round of goodbyes to everyone and then went home. She enjoyed the happy yet low talking voices of all the people of Magnolia, lying as a familiar and comfortable layer over the streets of the city she lived in.

She currently had too many thoughts running around in her head and was too tired to really and truly enjoy it the same way she used to though. Before she had even realized it, she plopped down on the couch back at her apartment.

For a moment, she simply sat there in the comfy pillows and stared at the wall on the other side, her mind remaining completely blank. Then, as if turning a switch, the many thoughts and worries suddenly burst into appearance.

With her elbows resting on her knees, she covered her face in her hands with closed eyes as all the thoughts she didn't allow at the guild assaulted her mind.

There was absolutely no chance on Earthland that she would ever take down even a single one of this dark guild's members. Even if she didn't have to, she would still be deadweight for everyone else, no matter who they were.

At least.. When she was knocked out, she would simply disappear and not remain as an obstacle on the ground for them to stumble over. Wait, maybe that'd have been better, then they could trip the opponent. Basically she was just a horribly heavy deadweight. All in all, she was just useless.

But that was why Gajeel was-

A blindingly golden light appeared and robbed her of her eyesight for a moment before she could see once again. She looked up to find the leader of the Zodiac standing in front of her. "Loke?" She asked confusedly at the ginger man's sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?"

Loke smiled a bright smile and spread his arms out wide. "Why, I felt you were in distress in the Spirit World and thought I should come visit you, of course!" He told her matter-of-factly. Lucy rolled her eyes playfully but couldn't suppress her giggle at his usual antics. After a half second of the blinding - or what was supposed to be anyway - smile, it dropped from his face and he landed on the couch next to her. "Seriously though, I felt you in the Spirit World, Princess. What happened?" He asked her.

Just like with his, the blonde's smile also vanished. She shook her head and dragged her hand across the side of her face. "It's nothing Loke, it's nothing to worry about." She reassured him, giving him a tiny and trembling smile.

The Lion looked at her with an incredulous gaze through his blue-tinted glasses. "Princess, I know that isn't the truth." He said, trying to catch the gaze she had quickly averted to the floor, a sure sign that she was lying. He took both of her hands in his and looked at her, waiting for her to look up as well. "Listen, no matter what's on your mind right now." He said, finally making her look up at him. "You will always have us. You know that, I know you do, I told you not long ago." He reminded her.

Lucy nodded, remembering the other time Loke had said something similar to her. She didn't doubt them, not at all. And if she had any say in it at all, she wouldn't ever. She knew they'd always be there for her as long as she held their keys and perhaps even after that if she was lucky. But it was still her, who supplied them with strength.

She felt a slightly rough hand touch her cheek. "Princess, please tell me what is bothering you." Loke asked of her, gently nudging her to face him. "I want to help you if I can." He said.

The blonde sighed. "Well, you already know, don't you?" She asked. Surely she wasn't the first master he'd had who had experienced all of this. That would also explain why he knew so much about Earth.

Loke found himself confused with what she said, but after a little moment, it dawned on him what she had meant. "You don't mean…?" He trailed off and caught the blonde's gaze with an intense one of her own. "Lucy, don't you dare go and think you're weak, because then you will be." He told her, actually using her name for emphasis.

Lucy shook her head. "It doesn't matter whether I think it or not, the fact of the matter is I'm going to be a hindrance to everyone tomorrow when we fight Oración Seis, because I don't have the firepower they do." She said bitterly, glaring at the floor.

The Lion Spirit looked silently at her for a moment, eyeing her expression, before deciding to answer. "It's not all about firepower in a battle." He reminded her. "Think about it like with us, your Spirits. I, Taurus, Aquarius and Virgo serve as your 'firepower', to use your words. But we would be useless without you to guide us." He told her. "Then there's old man Crux and Lyra, they can't battle the same way we can, they have other uses, that you point them to do."

Lucy glanced up at him. "What's your point, Loke? It still depends all on me, doesn't it? If I'm not strong enough, I can't guide you guys anyway." She muttered.

He shook his head. "If need be, most of us can summon ourselves. All we need is for you to tell us what to do, you need to be our brain." He said.

The blonde shook her head. "That's not true. Every time I summon any of you, you just do whatever you're best at. In reality, I don't need to say anything at all, you all know what to do and when to do it." She said with a defeated voice.

"Yes, we do." He agreed, making her shrug in a way that said 'told you so'. "Because you summoned us for a reason." He said, making her look up with confusion evident in her expression. "When you summon me, it's because there is need for close-combat. When you summon Taurus, it's because his monstrous strength is required. When you summon Aquarius, it's usually because you have no other choice." He said with a grin. "My point is every time you summon one of us, you always have to assess the situation and decide which of us would be best to bring out is."

Lucy sighed with a little smile. "You give me too much credit. Sometimes I just pull out whatever key and summon you." She admitted, feeling a little embarrassed with it herself. But sometimes she was just in a hurry, and simply didn't have the time to think about her choices.

Loke groaned internally. Of course he had always known his master was stubborn, and he was usually patient. Kind of anyway. But this time, with this topic, his patience slipped up much quicker than usual. "No matter what you say, we will always think you are a strong and amazing woman and we respect you for all the kindness you have shown us. And I know everyone in Fairy Tail, especially Team Natsu, thinks that way about you as well." He said breathing out. "No one would call you weak, not even Gajeel." He reassured her.

Thinking back, she knew he was right. Although Gajeel was a rude, sadistic creature from hell, he never even once told her he thought she was weak. But that didn't change anything though, there was no doubt it still would be smarter to send Gajeel out on this rather than her. He was much stronger, S-Class, almost, and would fare much better against this dark guild than she ever could.

The Lion watched his mistress' expression and could easily read the thoughts which went through her head. "Listen, Master chose you for a reason." He said, drawing her attention again. "You might feel weak, but you have to remember it is only temporary." Seeing her expression changing, he quickly answered her unspoken questions. "Yes, of course I know everything about the Spirit King's test and all that, I'm the leader of the Zodiac, for Mavis' sake." He sighed. "Anyway, Gramps has a reason, no matter what it is."

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "The only thing I'm good at is reduce Team Natsu's destruction from the whole town to most of the town." She said, remembering almost every single mission with her wonderful team. That really was all she could do. She couldn't push a plan through the guys' heads even if she had a billion years to do it. Whenever they would get in the situation where they had to fight, instincts would take over and they would abandon almost any plan. Well, unless it was something serious. Like, for example, fighting one of the three strongest dark guilds. She hoped.

Loke smiled. "Well, then that's exactly what he'll want you to do!" He exclaimed. Noticing the blonde's skeptical expression, he elaborated. "If you aren't there to calm down your team, there is no chance of you defeating them at all. You need to drill a plan into their heads, so that they will actually follow it for once." With affectionate eyes, the Spirit gently caressed her cheek. "You're a very intelligent girl, if anyone can do it, you can." He said honestly.

Lucy smiled at him. "Thank you Loke, it makes me happy you think so." She said and took his hand from her cheek. "But I'm sure those sent from the other guilds will also be able to think up a plan." She muttered.

Loke suppressed a sigh. "Even if they can make a plan, can they also make your team follow it?" He asked her. "I doubt it, knowing your team. And I'm sure that's part of the reason he sent you out on this mission." He said.

The blonde realized there was no arguing with her Lion Spirit about this topic, he was about as passionate about it as Erza was with her strawberry cakes. "And what do you suggest the other part of it is?" She asked him, curious to hear what he had to say.

Loke got up and smiled back at her. "Well, because you have some awesome Spirits with great coverage, of course." He said matter-of-factly. "I will dream sweet dreams of you tonight!" He claimed as he disappeared in his usual flash of golden light.

Lucy smiled and shook her head at him. Well, that was his charm, if he lost it, he'd not be himself.

But he had made her a little confused. She could see the point he made, although there was no doubt he exaggerated on some points, she wasn't as amazing as he put her up to be. At all. But nonetheless she really appreciated his words, it made her hope rise a little again. The whole idea with going up against Oración Seis wasn't as terrifying as it was before. She just needed to be reminded of her Spirits' backup.

Now… She should probably do as Gajeel told her to and go to bed a little early.

 **So… Yeah. There you go guys! I am not sure how much I will be changing what happens in cannon, but there has to be something, since Angel/Sorano can't surprise her with the Spirits' relationships… Ah, well, I'll figure something out XD Probably.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked it!**

 **And thank you to all of you, who favorite, follow, review and of course read! Your support is more than appreciated!**

 **~ Line464d**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

… **. I'm in pain, guys. I escaped torture… My mom, uncle and his girlfriend** _ **forced**_ **me to listen to** _ **their**_ **goddamn taste in music, from when they were** _ **KIDS!**_ **My ears are** _ **bleeding**_ _ **!**_ **Oh lord oh god, I will never get those songs out of my head… ~AND WE GO BOOM BOOM~! See? TT^TT**

 **Anyway, I am apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Hiro mah man and Tadatoshi mah other man still keep their stuff to themselves, they don't wanna share with meeeeee~!**

 **At Earth**

Momoi came as close as she could to running without really doing it when the gym came into sight. After all, today was a special day! She and Lucy were going to gather intel on Ryoma Middle School, the opponent at Friday! She had been excited to do this ever since they had arranged it! It had taken all of her attention all day she had no idea what her math teacher had been teaching them! And she fell asleep in her English class because she hadn't been sleeping at all last night!

But she stopped up suddenly at the door, as if she had hit an invisible wall. Her bright smile changed to a confused frown when she saw the completely empty gym. The usual tools which they had gotten somewhat used to coming to after classes had ended nor the blonde who usually put them up were anywhere in sight.

Momoi furrowed her eyebrows lightly in confusion. Where was Lucy? Surely she couldn't have forgotten? Even if she had, she always showed up in the gym. She hadn't been at the cafeteria either…

"Oi, what's up, Satsuki?" The pinkette heard her childhood friend call out behind her. "Why'd ya stop?" He asked again, coming up to stand next to her.

"Oh!" She said and quickly shook her head. "I was just surprised!" She reassured him with another of her bright smiles.

"And why is that?" Akashi asked as he also caught up with the pink- and bluenet. He was puzzled as to what could be surprising, it was a day like any other, was it not?

Momoi glanced at the empty gym before turning to the redhead. "Well…" She trailed off and looked back at the gym again. "It's just that Lucy isn't here." She said in a half mutter.

Midorima, who had arrived with Akashi, pushed his glasses up in true Midorima-fashion. "I am sure there is an explanation for that." He commented.

Their captain agreed with a nod. "We can't expect her to be around all the time, she has a life too." He added. Although he was disappointed he maybe wouldn't be seeing her that day…

Momoi nodded with a deep sigh as the team went towards the changing rooms. She knew Lucy wasn't one to abandon her friends… But on the other hand, she really didn't know much about her at all. She didn't seem like she had a horrible past she didn't want to talk about, she just averted the topic whenever it went in that direction. Only, it was so smooth she wouldn't realize it until they were far into another topic or their conversation had ended all together. Whatever the case, it wasn't something she was about to bring up by herself, which the pinkette took as her not wanting to talk about it.

But… What if Lucy didn't show up? Would she have to go by herself?

She jolted when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. "It's today you were going to Ryoma, right?" Aomine asked her. Seeing her gaze averted to the floor again, he figured he'd gotten the answer. He patted her shoulder once before following after the team. "She'll show up, Satsuki, don't worry." He reassured her.

Momoi gave Aomine's retreating back a soft smile, grateful for his reassuring words. She figured while she waited for the blonde to show up she might as well start putting everything up for the boys. But she was interrupted, when angry shouts sounded from the changing rooms.

"HAIZAKI!" Nijimura yelled at the silver-haired teen. He was surprised to see the lazy guy there before anyone else, but that wasn't what he was yelling about.

Just then, Aomine entered the changing rooms, taking only a short moment to understand the situation going on in front of him. Then he narrowed his eyes at his fellow basketball player too. "Haizaki, what the hell are you trying to do?" He almost growled at the other guy.

Akashi, although not as fiercely as some other, were also glaring at the guy with lightly furrowed eyebrows. Foremost, he was confused as to how it had even come to this. He glanced down at the occupied bench, and once again wondered what had happened.

When he and the others had opened the doors leading to the rooms in which they now were, they appeared to a scene featuring Haizaki leaning down over a sleeping Lucy about to do who knows what.

Haizaki just grinned widely at all of them, sending especially amused gazes to Akashi and Nijimura. "What do you think?" He taunted them and laughed loudly.

For a moment anyway, as Murasakibara slapped an enormous hand over the other's mouth, stopping the confusedly glaring teen from making the noise. "You're waking Lu-chin up." He said and looked down at the blonde, who really was waking up as he had said.

Lucy drowsily opened her eyes, facing a sand-colored roof surrounded by blindingly white walls. She rubbed her eyes to hopefully ease the brightness a little. As she looked around, only a single sentence popped up in her mind. "Where am I…?" She asked herself. She sat up as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on a weird bench-like thing, but with hangers going up from the backs of two benches put together. The floor was squared, white tiles of some kind of smooth stone. An opening on one of the walls lead into another room in which even the walls were covered in the same, cold tiles till about halfway up. She turned her head and almost jumped in surprise when she found out she wasn't alone. "Guys." She muttered confusedly.

Midorima angled his head just right, so the light made it impossible to see his green eyes through his glasses. "I see you were not kidding back then." He commented. When he saw the confused tilt of her head he elaborated. "With your sleeping disorder." He added.

It took her a moment to remember what the green-haired teen was talking about, but then it dawned on her. "Oh, yeah, I wasn't." She confirmed and got up from where she sat, feeling awkward with all the attention she had in this strange, medium-sized room she had never seen before.

Akashi recognized that the girl still had no idea where she was and decided to step up. "I believe Momoi is waiting for you out on the court." He told her. "You're currently in the changing rooms, you can find out there, I'm sure?" He asked her.

Lucy smiled and nodded, thankful to the redhead for telling her where she was as well as reminding her of the exciting and fun day she was going to have with the pinkette. "All right, I'll get going then! See you all later!" She said as she gracefully danced between all the many players and out of the door towards the court, where she now knew Momoi to be.

She hurried down the familiar corridor and towards the court, where she saw the pinkette dragging the cage of basketballs across the edge of the court.

She smiled widely and raised her hand in a wave. "Sat-chan!" She called loudly across the hall and moved in a fast pace towards her younger friend. "Sorry to keep you waiting." She apologized as she got closer.

Momoi lit up like the sun when she saw the blonde and shot off the floor in an inhuman speed, before she as usual tackled Lucy. "LUCY-CHAN!" She almost screamed. Even for Lucy it was loud, she didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like for a Dragon Slayer.

The blonde giggled at Momoi and gently coaxed her off. "Shouldn't we get going to Ryoma? It wouldn't be any fun if we miss their training after all." She asked her.

The pinkette nodded quickly and jumped to her feet. "You're right! Let's go!" She exclaimed as she, without waiting for Lucy, progressed to walk quickly out of the door.

Lucy smiled at her eagerness and caught up with the younger girl before she got too far. "I hope you know where we're going, because I have no idea." She suddenly figured out. She didn't even know if Ryoma was in this city - Tokyo… Wasn't it? - or somewhere else. She didn't even know how big Tokyo really was. Was it Crocus-size, Magnolia-size or Onibus-size? Smaller, bigger? She knew nothing.

Momoi smiled and giggled at the older blonde. "Yeah, I know. It's only fifteen minutes away from here, actually." She reassured the blonde with a smile.

"So close to each other?" She asked her curiously. While she knew next to nothing about Earth, despite all that Loke had told her, having two schools so close to each other seemed ridiculous. It was like having two guilds within one city, that was also strange.

Momoi gave her a little crooked smile. "Yeah, I understand what you're thinking…" She said and scratched the back of her head with a tiny laugh. "I have no way of explaining this without sounding arrogant, just so you know…" She muttered in a lower voice. "The thing is, Teiko is an expensive school, far from everyone can afford to go there…" She said, looking forward. "That's why Ryoma was built! It's less expensive and maybe not as grand and flashy as Teiko, but I imagine it's just as good!" She quickly said.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right." She agreed.

 **Later~**

"I-I guess I weren't right." Momoi said with a slightly muffled voice, as she held the sleeve of her mint green sweater up to cover her nose.

Lucy, having no long sleeves she could pull up to cover her nose, simply furrowed her eyebrows. "Well… They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, right?" She asked, while trying not to show how uncertain she was about her own words.

When they had turned the corner towards the street where the school was, it was like stepping into a whole other world. One where the smell of rotten mold ruled supreme. It felt like an invisible dark cloud was looming over the school, sending down dark miasma over the building, which, by the way, also looked like it could collapse any moment. She would even be surprise if garbage and rotten foot flooded out of the doors if they opened them.

"How is it even possible to concentrate in this stench?" Lucy muttered. Even when the guys were brawling in the middle of the guild sweaty and stinky, it was like a sweet perfume in comparison to this.

Momoi pulled at her shoulders in a little shrug. "I have no idea." She admitted. She scrunched her nose up. "I won't believe they've gotten used to it." She muttered. She shook her head and looked forward with a determined expression. "No. For the sake of the team, we will pull through this, Lucy-chan." She said determinedly, removing her sweater from her face.

Lucy glanced at the younger girl, then nodded, agreeing with her. It hit her like a truck when she realized just how rude she had just been and decided she would not show whoever this team was how uncomfortable the atmosphere at this school was to her.

The two smiled and gave each other a nod, before they stepped past the threshold of the school grounds, timed perfectly with the ring of the bell signaling the end of school. They could already see the first students appearing from the doors, happily chatting as they proceeded to go home, as if they had been waiting just at the other side of the door for the precise moment the bell would ring.

Lucy didn't have much to compare it with, but the uniform they all wore… Well, it wasn't as classy as Teiko's. Instead of the white blazer, black pants or skirts and the delicately blue shirt, these students wore plain, brown ones, both in blazer and skirt/pants, and underneath a white shirt. She frowned at the very clear difference between the wealthier and the 'ordinary' people.

Even on Earth, the gap between them was so big… Well, at least it made her somewhat relieved it wasn't only on Earthland. She had experienced that more than once back at the Konzern and she hated it more and more every time she did.

She was pulled out of her trail of thoughts, when Momoi spoke next to her. "Say, do you see the gym anywhere, Lucy-chan?" She asked the older blonde.

Lucy quickly pulled herself together and focused on the task at hand, having not even begun looking for the place where the basketball team they were supposed to be watching today. And she didn't find anything looking like a gym so she shook her head. "No, I don't see anything like a gym…" She said with lightly furrowed eyebrows.

"Excuse me." Someone said from their right. They both turned to see a guy with coal-black hair and dark eyes facing them. "Were you looking for the gym?" He asked them.

Momoi turned to him and smiled brightly as she gave him a nod. "Yes! That's exactly what we're looking for!" She confirmed for him.

He gave them a little smile and gestured towards the school, where his fellow students were now streaming out like a flood. "It's inside the main building. It's at the end of the big hall." He instructed them.

Lucy nodded and smiled just as brightly as the pinkette. "Thank you for your help, we really appreciate it." She told him, gaining a nod of agreement from her younger friend. With a last nod of respect, the two turned around and walked against the crowd, who easily split for them to come through.

"Dude! Those chicks were from Teiko, right?" The friend of the black haired boy asked his friend. The boy nodded absentmindedly as he watched their disappearing backs. "What would they want to do here?" The friend asked. The boy pulled himself out of his trance and turned to his friend with a shrug of his shoulders, wondering about the answer to the question.

The two girls entered the school, doing their utmost to ignore all the weird looks they got from passing Ryoma students. Honestly, what was with that? Surely it wasn't the first time a Teiko student came by. … Right?

Lucy looked up and down the long hall, which the boy outside had been speaking of and saw a pair of big doors at the end, which must be the gym. "I think it's down there, Sat-chan." She said and began moving down the big hall, towards the gym. The hallway had been so emptied out now, they could hear the whining sounds of the rubber soles skidding on the court-floor.

Momoi looked up and nodded in agreement. "Well, let's go then!" She said and followed her down the hall. They opened up and entered a gym between the size of the 2nd and 3rd strings', with a warm, white color on the walls and a darker court than the one they were used to. Other than that, it looked quite similar to what they had back at Teiko. Well, if you didn't count the people running around on the court anyway.

For starters, the two quickly noticed none of these guys had as exotic colors of hair as the ones, more specifically the first years, from Teiko. They all had what she had found out was the normal kind of hair colors in Japan; shades of brown and black. Which had led her to wonder whether the boys and Momoi had actually colored their hair or not. Just the thought of it made her giggle. None of them really seemed like the types honestly, but they'd probably think the same if they saw Natsu, Freed or anyone else from Fairy Tail, who had as crazy hair colors as they did.

Right at the moment, it seemed like the team was warming up before the 'real' training could begin. Although… Lucy wasn't sure how much more they needed to run around like this, they seemed pretty warm already. Besides, it brought up traumatic memories from training with Gajeel.

The blonde glanced down at Momoi, trying to see her reaction towards simply the warm up, although it probably wouldn't show much as to how skilled they were. And as expected, she was just tilting her head lightly as she watched them run forward and back again, doing different motions as they did so. There was not much to could be gathered just from the way they ran, especially if they didn't know how long this team had been running around either.

Lucy was startled when the Ryoma coach suddenly blew in his whistle, instantly stopping all the young guys from moving and instead making many either lean back or forward dripping with sweat and breathing deep, exhausted breaths. "Five minute break, everyone! Go get something to drink!" He ordered, before turning to the two girls, having probably noticed them just as they had entered.

The two also looked at him, as the Ryoma team went to get their water bottles. He was a middle-aged man, probably around Sanada's age. But instead of the full mane of hair Sanada had, this coach had receding hairlines, leaving a very big spot on top of his head blank. However the hair which was left, was almost completely black, as seemed his eyes. He seemed to be somewhat overweight as well, but as seen before, those who could not cultivate it themselves, often turned out to be good teachers. Maybe he was this kind of guy.

The man's eyes alternated between the two, trying to figure out why they were here and who they were. It felt like eternity before the man finally stopped staring and asked the question. "What are you two doing here?" He asked them, his gaze lingering a little on Momoi and her getup. "Teiko." He added, looking back up at them.

Lucy and Momoi exchanged gazes. They had, on the way there, realized Momoi still wore the Teiko uniform, and that the people at Ryoma would most likely recognize it, it being their rival school, after all. Kind of anyway. Apparently.

So, anyway, they had made a plan, as to what to tell the coach or anyone else, should they question why they were there. And that simply being…

"Oh, we're so sorry for not having informed you in advance, Kishimoto-san." Lucy said with a smile and a little bow of apology. Yes, they had also done a little researching, on a device called a 'phone', however that worked. Seeing the surprised expression at the man's face, for knowing his name, she quickly suppressed a giggle. "It is not as you may think." She reassured him.

His skeptical gaze continued to wander between the two, not sure if he really believed what they were saying. "So, what is it, then?" He asked them. If it wasn't as he thought, that they were here to gather intel on them for the match they were going to be playing against each other this Friday, then what could it be?

Momoi smiled brightly at him, locking her arms behind her back and leaning just a little forward to get the coach's attention. "We just want to play basketball!" She exclaimed energetically.

Kishimoto furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously as he gazed at the two girls. "Excuse me for asking, but if that is the case, why have you come here? Surely Teiko provides enough for your basketball requirements." He asked them. Quite rudely, actually.

Lucy nodded with slightly upturned lips. "It's true there are enough tools and the like, but they…" She trailed off, mimicking looking for a word, while having it screaming at her from the back of her head. "They tend to be arrogant." She said, seeing Kishimoto's understanding expression and the flash of rivalry passing through his eyes. Lucy smiled, seeing she had almost hauled a win home with this guy. "So, we thought it would probably be different here." She said and gestured to Momoi with a wink going unnoticed by the man, who was absorbing the moment of glory he felt.

The pinkette smiled and gave a little nod in reply. "Yeah! So we thought we could watch your team's training today and learn from it! Would that be all right with you guys?" She asked him, adding a sad pout at the end. One of many feminine wiles easy to exploit, although more towards the cute persona.

Their idea was genius though. Not only would Kishimoto relish in their decision to watch his players rather than Teiko's, so he'd probably let them, but they'd also be able to take notes without it being suspicious at all!

Without giving the adult man a chance of answering, one of the players answered their question. "Of course, go right ahead." He said, wiping away sweat from his forehead as he appeared in the girls' sight behind the coach. He was tall, much taller than the coach. Maybe around Aomine's height… Which was tall. He had somewhat short, lightly spiky, black hair and a brown shade of eyes. Lucy couldn't help comparing it to Erza's sharp eyes, this guy's held a bit of the same sharpness.

Momoi smiled widely at him, right next to Lucy, who was doing the same. "Thank you so much!" The pinkette said, smiling cutely. Ahh, this was easy indeed.

With a sigh of resignation - or probably what it should have been had he not still been caught in the dream-like state, caused by the fact they were chosen over Teiko - the coach nodded and pointed them to some seats, from where they could watch the players training. Every time they received a glance from either of the players, they'd exchange knowing gazes.

They refocused their attention on the task at hand, as Kishimoto blew in his whistle and resumed the training of the Ryoma team. Lucy quickly noted that the exercises they were put through were no different than those used at Teiko. Apparently that was just the way to go about it.

Unfortunately, neither Lucy nor Momoi learned much simply from watching them practicing shots, because that was under completely different circumstances than that of a game. Although she didn't think these guys were the type, there was also the possibility that their performance would decrease under pressure, both from playing against a strong team and from all the spectators.

So, as such it was only the basic footwork, the average scoring percentage and the general stamina of the members. As well as a few combinations, tricks, tips and exercises they might try out and see if it was necessary.

Fortunately, just like with the Teiko team, they played basketball against each other at the end of training. Now, here the two girls payed close attention. They watched as the boys nimbly dribbled and passed between each other, the ball sailing in the air, seeming like it had wings and moved of its own, and landed down in the net.

Yeah, there was no doubt these guys were good. They were determined and passionate with their training, encouraged by having to play Teiko in the following two days, as well as having girls, especially since they were from Teiko, watching. She had found that out through Kozo. Apparently her own and Momoi's presences spurred their boys on to train harder. Just a boy-thing, her fellow Earthlander had told her. She had an idea, but she wasn't entirely sure she understood exactly what the old man was implying.

Besides that, though, the girls also quickly noted three players while watching the Ryoma team playing against themselves.

The first of them was the one who had said good for them to watch, the captain they'd found out. He also had that aura about him, just like Erza, so it didn't come like that much of a surprise. Kureto Shinta, was his name. The abilities he excelled in, and those which caught the girls' attention, was his astonishing speed while weaving between all the players with or without the ball, easily finding or creating openings for himself. Besides that, he also had above average skills, as was the expectations of a captain. Of course, he was also good at spurring his part of the team up and keeping their spirits up.

The second of the three guys they had noticed was a tall boy with glasses over narrow, dark eyes, short, black hair, and what seemed like an eternally angry expression ingrained on his face. Junpei Hyuga was his name. The point he excelled in was in his three pointers. While not as good as Midorima's, which seemed to land every time, it was far enough over average to be noticed by an amateur.

The last guy had longer, black hair, reaching to his ear and to his eyebrows, parting a little on his left side. His eyes were narrow, just like Hyuga's, if not a bit more, and his facial features in general were kind of sharp. Compared to the other players around, his build was more athletic. What caught the girls' attention about him was the quick steals he made. Besides that, it seemed to Lucy he also had an advanced overview over the field, as his reactions when stealing already airborne balls was excessively quick. That or he could somehow slow down time, but that was doubtful. His name was Shun Izuki.

The other members of the team lay at an average to a little above level, nothing they were to really look out for, as with those other three.

Finally, the coach blew the whistle and the boys stopped up, of course only after the last goal was scored, giving each other high fives with wide smiles playing at their mouths. Lucy watched with a little smile, there was such a friendly and nice atmosphere around these players, it seemed like everyone knew everyone. They weren't quite there yet with the Teiko team, they were a little more… Well, not distant or unfriendly, but something along the lines of that. With a little tilt of her head, and the upwards tilt of the corner of her mouth, she promised herself she would work at getting the team to have the same atmosphere as this one.

While the Ryoma team members began cleaning up after themselves, Lucy and Momoi turned to discussing their notes a bit.

"Do you think this will be enough?" Lucy asked Momoi, hoping the girl knew more about what Sanada expected them to gather from their soon-to-be opponent team.

Momoi smiled and nodded. "I'm sure it is! Even if it isn't, this is what we got, so he can't say anything." She said with a giggle, which Lucy soon joined.

They looked up when they heard a pair of footsteps approaching, meeting Kishimoto's gaze. "So, did you get what you wanted from watching the team play?" He asked them semi-kindly. It seemed it was just a trait among coaches to have a bit of a sharp voice and tone.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we got all we could hope for!" She said with a bright smile. "Now we're just looking forward to trying it out ourselves." She added, getting a supportive nod from the pinkette.

The coach smiled back and gave a little nod. "I'm glad we could he-"

"Oi! Coach!" One of the team members cut him off. "Are anyone going to use the gym after us?" He asked the man, glancing up at the two girls.

Kishimoto looked a little thoughtful for a moment, probably running through the schedule of the gym, before shaking his head. "No, it's clear the rest of the day. Why?" He asked the team member.

The guy smiled. "Thanks coach!" He said and turned to the girls. "Heard you two couldn't wait till you could play some ball yourselves, what'cha say to joining us? We were all planning on doin' some extra training anyway." He suggested.

Lucy and Momoi exchanged gazes, before a set of bright smiles crept up on their faces. "Yeah! That'd be awesome!" Momoi said, almost already cheering. This would be a great chance of gauging their skill first hand. Both of them had played a little with the Teiko team as well, and Lucy had almost been training with Kuroko and Aomine every time she was here, so she was looking forward to actually seeing for herself how this team differed. Besides, Lucy was sure that as soon as Momoi had moved out of her sights, she would be falling asleep and go back, and she hadn't even had the chance to play basketball at all yet!

Lucy tilted her head a little as she looked at the member, her eyebrows lightly creased. "Well, if it's not a bother, of course." She said.

The guy shook his head, his smile even reaching his eyes. "It won't be!" He said, getting an agreeing nod from the other players, who had been listening to their exchange.

Lucy got to her feet with Momoi and practically beamed at the boys. "In that case, we would appreciate it a lot!" She said as they both got down at the bottom row of the benches, jumping from one to another, getting some unneeded but fully appreciated help from the guys from the last one to the floor, which had a slightly bigger gap. Right as they reached their level, the scent of their recent workout wafted over them. They had yet to decide whether it smelled good or not. It wasn't as bad as the general smell of the school, and anything seemed like flowers next to that.

The player who had suggested it in the first place glanced at particularly Lucy's shoes and cleared his throat a little, getting her - and the other's - attention. "Uhm… You might wanna take those off, miss." He said and gestured to her shoes, his cheeks flaring a little.

The blonde followed his gaze and remembered she was wearing heeled shoes. Not exactly fit for basketball. Or missions involving fights, for that matter. She'd done it before, and she'd never do it again.

She looked up at him with a smile, a little amused with his lightly colored cheeks. "Yeah, I think you're right about that, thank you!" She said as she reached down and easily pulled them off, seeing Momoi doing the same from the corner of her eyes, although it wasn't quite as necessary for her. "And just call me Lucy, please." She told him with a smile. She looked around at all the others. "That goes for everyone." She added. She always felt so uncomfortable whenever people called her 'Miss' or used her last name, it reminded her too much of the time she spent with her father and all the meetings she had to attend to.

The captain nodded. "Lucy." He repeated, gaining a nod from the blonde. He gave a small smile, before turning to the pinkette. "And what's your name?" He asked her.

Momoi smiled brightly and locked her arms behind her back. "I'm Satsuki Momoi, but you guys can just call me Momoi!" She told them.

He nodded again, his gaze alternating a bit between them, before he spoke again. "I'm the captain of this team, name's Kureto Shinta, just go right ahead and call me Shinta." He introduced himself. He gestured to his team behind him with a thumb over his shoulder. "These guys go by the name 'idiots'." He said with a bright grin, when he got angry comments from the surrounding team members. "Come on, let's play!" He said, to which the team and the girls agreed.

 **Damn I'm glad I write in advance… This chapter was a week behind, because I had so many school-projects, papers and assignments I needed done _" So if it's feels a little rushed or the characters are a little out of character, it's because I kinda rushed it out…. GOMENASAI MINNA! - Yes, I too know a little Japanese here and there ;P**

 **Ah yes, I had actually thought during almost the whole chapter that I would add some of them training and playing together at the end, but that was just such a fitting end, following my usual habits concerning ending chapters, and I had no idea how I was supposed to end it if I added them playing together.  
If I did, then it would first end AFTER they had played together and the two girls had returned, where Lucy then would pass out when Momoi disappeared. And that would both drag out and be awesomely awkward, so nah XD**

 **So, on an a little bit darker note, from my perspective anyway, the jack input in my pc is all kinds of messed up and needs repairing. DESPERATELY! Like, imagine not being able to hear music through anything but the horrible speakers on the pc itself. It's a laptop, mind you. So yea, that's basically impossible.  
The point of this whole thing is that sometime soon, preferably before the Christmas vacation, I will have to go in with my precious(sssss) AGAIN, so I can get this shiet fixed. That way, I won't feel a loss concerning school. Now FanFiction, that's a whole other matter. Well. We'll see what I'll do about it… Ah, fack dis. **

**Anyway, thank you too all of you who read, follow, favorite and review! It means the world to me~ As you know by now, I imagine.**

 **~Line464d**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **So, I think I figured out how to go about doing this whole Oración Seis arc and changing parts of it. Maybe…. Well, I hope it's to your liking, guys~!  
Also... 100 FOLLOWERS! I'M ECSTATIC WITH JOY, GUYS! THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: You know guys, I never thought a pair of old men like them could be so stubborn T^T **

**At Earthland~**

Lucy sighed contently as she woke up, now in her own bed in her own house. Waking up as she usually did, with warmth blanketing her both from above and under her. The loud snoring being sent directly into her ear. She kept her eyes closed as she just wanted to enjoy it for a while.

Wait… Above _and_ under her? Snoring?

She suddenly felt her bed wasn't quite as soft as it used to be, actually it was almost like lying on a carpet on the floor. Her eyes sprang open and she looked down at what she was lying on, although she already had a suspicion about who it could be.

And right as she had expected, she saw a firm chest, a sleeping head topped by a salmon-pink mess of a hair above it. Natsu.

She felt something move under her, groaning and panting as it struggled to move out from under her. The blonde tipped a little to one side, allowing it to move more freely. She smiled when she recognized the blue form.

Happy grabbed his tail and roughly tore it out from under her, sending her a glare. "Lushy! Why are you so heavy?!" He whined quite loudly.

Lucy quickly slammed a hand over the cat's mouth, eyeing Natsu to see if he would wake up from Happy's loud voice. She sighed in relief when she saw he still continued to sleep heavily. She turned to the blue cat with a smile and her finger to her lip, telling him to be silent. His two small paws flew to his mouth as his cheeks blew up a little, his eyes as big as ever.

She gave the cat a smile and moved to get up, when she was suddenly yanked back by Natsu, who laid his strong arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. Lucy was so startled by his sudden action she didn't even move as he burrowed his nose into the crook of her neck with a satisfied grumble.

The blonde finally regained movement and gently tried prying herself out of his arms, getting no help from the cat whatsoever, as he only hovered in the air, giggling happily at her predicament.

Lucy sent the cat a cold glare before turning back to the Fire Dragon Slayer, once again trying to wiggle out of his grip. Only for him to tighten it once again. "Mmh.. Don't go…" He muttered in his sleep.

The blonde smiled, remembering back to when he and Team Natsu had first learned of her trips to Earth, the way he was so worried his personality took a one eighty. It was the fear of her leaving him behind, just like Igneel had, which made him so panicked and frantic. She wondered… What did he and the others think every time she went to Earth? Were they worried she would never return?

She reached up and gently brushed away a stray lock of hair from Natsu's face, although it was an uncontrollable mess of hair he had. She didn't want him, Erza, Gray, Happy or anyone else to worry about whether there would come a point in time, where she would not return. It was as carved in stone, she would not leave them behind for the life of her. She didn't know what she would do without them, her friends and family. Not since it was her choice.

She didn't even hear when someone entered her room, after having waited for about five seconds outside the front door. The person smirked at the scene playing out in front of him, completely misunderstanding it on purpose. "Well, well, well…" Gray said, making Lucy turn to him in a jolt of surprise. "I know you don't want to, but you two lovebirds gotta get up." He told her with a grin, which only widened when he saw her expression.

Lucy gave him a half-hearted glare, knowing he knew that it wasn't what it seemed. "Oh, I would love to, Gray, but _something-"_ She gesture to Natsu's iron grip on her. "Is kind of keeping me back." She explained with a faint smile playing at her lips. "I could use some help, you know." She said.

The Ice Make mage grunted in fake exasperation. "Don'cha usually deal with this idiot yourself?" He asked as he approached her. With a little effort, he pried Natsu's arms off her and threw the pink haired Dragon Slayer off the bed, helping Lucy up.

The blonde sighed and nodded. "Yes, but I couldn't really move at all in that position, you saw it for yourself." She said, straightening her clothes. Besides, she didn't have the heart for it, he had just been so cute.

Nothing more could be exchanged as Natsu jumped off the ground and glared at his rival and friend. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He growled at the black haired mage.

Gray glared right back at him. "What about yourself?" He responded. "What the hell did _you_ think you were doing?!" He barked back, gesturing to the blonde.

Said blonde just shook her head and headed for the bathroom, grabbing pieces of clothes in the process, leaving the two behind to their arguing. She hoped for them her home was exactly as it was now when she was done, otherwise…

 **Later~**

Luckily for the two guys, everything had been as she had left it when she emerged from the bathroom. Mainly because Erza had shown up and knocked the two out before they could do any further damage, depositing them on the floor. Or that was what Lucy had thought, having only heard the redhead's arrival and angry yells while the shower was still running, more than reassured everything would be fine with her around.

And as she had expected, the redhead had dropped Natsu on top of Gray, while she herself was sitting on a chair with one leg crossed over the other, ready to embark on their new journey.

Happy had spread his cute, small angel-like wings and grabbed his partner, easily lifting him up despite his little form. Lucy summoned Taurus and asked him to carry Gray to the train station, to which the bull agreed without hesitation, since he was lucky enough to get another look at Lucy's body, as was his reasoning.

So, that had happened, and now Lucy, Erza and Happy were sitting in their own booth at the train with the two unconscious guys from their team. The blonde was fondly fiddling with her keys, gently rubbing each one shiny with a corner of the moss-green top she was wearing, realizing they were needing it, and feeling a little encouraging warmth from each. Except Aquarius. She just dampened the blonde's hands and shirt with her water, only making said blonde smile just a little wider.

"You seem very relaxed, Lucy." Erza commented, startling Lucy out of her trance.

The Celestial mage looked at the Requip mage and smiled with a nod. "Yeah, I recovered some courage after returning home yesterday." She explained.

Of course, the talk with Loke had been a huge help, it had made her waver. Made her think, really. Then she came to Earth, and while nothing much had happened before the Ryoma team they had been watching invited them to join playing at the end. Then, stuff happened. Actually, those guys had complimented both herself and Momoi, clearly having thought them less skilled than they actually were. Even if that had been the case, she had gotten a boost of her confidence either way.

Erza smiled and nodded. "I'm glad that's the case." She said, before turning to watch the passing landscape with a thoughtful expression adorning her face.

 **At Blue Pegasus' villa~**

Team Natsu slowly walked in through the big gates after a long ride there. Well, Natsu dragged himself in, still dizzy after the different transportation methods they had used. "Are we… there yet…?" He whined, only barely managing to get the words past his tongue.

Happy lifted a paw behind him and patted his leg. "We're already here, Natsu~" He sang, beaming when he saw relief wash over his best friend's face.

Lucy looked around curiously with her hands locked behind her back, an action she had picked up from a certain pinkette, her chocolate eyes dragging over the obviously high-class building's interior. "I never knew a building like this existed." She said, mostly to herself.

Nonetheless, the knight answered her. "It is a villa owned by Blue Pegasus' guild master, Bob." She said, watching as memories of the… Considerably overweight man, dressed in a pink fairy-costume washed over the blonde, and could hardly contain a smile.

Before any other kind of conversation could continue, the room suddenly turned dark. In an instant, a bright spotlight landed over three silhouettes, the middle one with its hand raised, the one on the right with his arms crossed and the left with them in its pockets. When Lucy's sights had adapted a little to the dark contra the bright light, she realized the three figures were male.

"Ladies and gentlemen from Fairy Tail…" One of them announced, probably the one in the middle. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you." The same person told them. They each stroke a similar pose, their heads turned towards them, but tilted a little forward. "We are the delegation from Blue Pegasus…" The one in the middle trailed off. "… The Trimen." He then announced, as if it should wake any special feelings in them.

Suddenly, the lights were turned on once again, revealing three guys, each in a suit of their own. The one in the middle had his arms crossed by the wrists and fingers pointing out in the air, just around his chest, his head tilted lightly to the side, so as to make the semi-long honey hair move in his favor, and winking at all of them. "Hundred Night, Hibiki." He introduced himself, sparkles seeming to appear around him, as well as the others.

The next was the lowest one of them all, not as old as the other two. He pointed two fingers at them all, smiling a brilliant smile as the sparkles seemed to light up his blonde hair, having a cute appearance about him. "Holy Night, Eve." He said with what Lucy could not call anything but an adorable, preteen voice.

The last one, the tallest, stood out from the others, not only because instead of the incessant sparkling lights the others had, he seemed to be half covered in shadows. To add to his mysterious appearance, he had assumed a pose, holding one hand up to cover half his face and eye, the one most cast in shadows, and almost seemed to disappear blended in with his dark skin-tone. Some of his black hair was pulled into a little ponytail on the back of his head. "Silent Night, Ren." He said with a deep voice.

Lucy glanced back at her own teammates, where Natsu was trying to regain his bearings, leaning up against a wall, looking like he was about to puke, while Gray once again obsessed over having lost his clothes. "Why can't we have a little more of _that_ in our guild?" She asked herself lowly, referring to the three Blue Pegasus males in front of her.

The three, as if moving at the speed of lightning, quickly surrounded Erza, each keeping in their respective characters.

"You are every bit as beautiful as the rumors say." Hibiki complimented Erza, who was calmly looking around at all of them.

"A pleasure to meet you, Titania." Eve said, once again smiling brightly.

Ren spread his arms. "Please, step this way." He offered, and gestured to the extravagant couch and table standing against one of the walls.

Of course, Erza had no choice but to do this, and landed on the couch with her armor rattling gently. Hibiki swiftly landed on one knee in front of her. "Please, take this to wash your hands." He suggested, offering the tools to do just that.

For the first time in Lucy's life, she saw the usually firm and steady S-Class mage speechless. "I…" She trailed off, not even getting a chance to answer before she was cut off.

Eve beamed once again. "Will you have your drink diluted?" He asked the redhead, who just seemed even more confused.

Lucy jolted a little when she suddenly felt a strong arm land around her waist. She looked up to see the owner being Ren. "You should sit as well." He said, gesturing to the couch with his free hand as he nudged her in the direction.

She could only follow his gestures, just as speechless as the redhead. "Uhhm…" She dumbly managed to say.

Ren guided her to the coach gallantly enough to make Jude Heartfilia himself flabbergasted, and helped her down. "Is it just me, or are you _too_ cute?" He asked no one in particular. The blonde found herself to have turned to jelly beside Erza, who seemed to have regained her ability to speak.

She turned to the smallest of the three, and offered him a little smile. "I look forward to your cooperation." She told him. "Let us work together and-"

"So cute…!" Eve almost gushed as he broke her off. Not exactly the words Lucy would have used to describe the knight, but… Once again assuming a pose, which screamed 'child', he looked up at her with an innocent expression. "Your face is simply marvelous!" He said, his wide vocabulary betraying his childish appearance just a bit. "To tell you the truth… I have always admired you…" He said with a little blush, as he looked away to the floor again, leaving a very surprised and very confused Erza just staring straight at his turned head.

Ren pushed a glass in Lucy's direction, not even looking up from what he was doing. "It's… Not as though I made it for you or anything, all right?" He asked, staring at the table as if something really exciting was happening there, which he could not tear his gaze away from. Meanwhile, Lucy melted a little more on the inside at the realization of him being a true and living tsundere.

"Now…" Hibiki said, drawing attention to himself again. "You must be tired from your long journey." He said. Lucy couldn't deny the truth to his words. He winked at the girls before resuming his sentence. "Let us spend this night of rest together…" He trailed off.

In another instant, they all stood in front of the table, each with one hand stretched out to the two of them. "Forever~!" They suggested.

Lucy and Erza were speechless, finally realizing they were no different than Loke, the Lion Spirit.

A voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, suddenly filled the room. "My friends…" The sugary sweet, disgustingly so, said. "I think that is quite enough of that, yes?" It asked.

Lucy freaked a little on the inside about the sickly-sweet voice, already feeling dread pitting at the bottom of her stomach. "Ichiya-sama.." She heard Ren utter in a low voice.

Erza almost shot up from her seat and stood in the middle of the room, facing the staircase, on which a black silhouette had appeared. "Ichiya?" She asked, a myriad of unrecognizable emotions swirling in her voice.

"It has been a while, my dear Erza-san!" The voice announced.

Lucy's eyes widened when she saw the strong woman she had always look up to, tremble slightly. "T…To think that _you_ would be participating…" She trailed off, her voice stammering uncharacteristically.

Suddenly, as if by magic, the shadows making the man a mere silhouette lifted and revealed the most ugly creature Lucy had ever seen, trying to pose as the three Trimen and look as good as them while doing it. And failing. Miserably.

"I have longed to see you, my honey!" He exclaimed. "Worry not. Ichiya is here for you~!" He 'reassured' her. More like making her even more stunned and speechless than the Trimen had, but not the good kind unfortunately.

On the other hand, Lucy almost fell backwards and into unconsciousness at the freedom 'Ichiya' the Disgusting, as she would dub him forever from now, expressed with ease, through calling the great Titania, the Queen of the Fairies and the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail 'my honey'.

The three Trimen all gathered on a line and bowed to Erza, sincere expressions of apology adorning their faces. "So you were the lover of Ichiya-sama. We must apologize for out conduct." They said in perfect synchrony.

Erza whipped her face towards the three and pointed at them with a threateningly steady arm and an just as intense expression. "I vigorously deny everything." Erza said a little too loudly.

From then on, everything just continued to drive way off track. Not only did Ichiya attempt at approaching Erza and getting a whiff of her 'wonderful perfume', but he did to Lucy too, which finally set Gray into action, basically threatening the Pegasus. In the middle of the beginning fight between them all, Ichiya had sneaked up behind Erza, catching her 'perfume', to which she reacted with quickly throwing him away from herself and towards the door with much more strength than what she would usually use outside battles.

As if that wasn't crazy enough in itself, Ichiya was stopped from flying straight into the two approaching people, by one of said people. Who, of course, had to be Lyon, one of their former opponents and Gray's brother from another mother, who he had broken paths with. Things accelerated from there, as Team Natsu, more specifically Gray and Lyon's not so friendly rivalry came into play, at the same time Sherry, the one who Lucy had been battling also appeared, also beginning to start a fight with the blonde.

In the end, it was all stopped by one of the Great Wizard Saints, who just so happened to also be from Lamia Scale, just like the other two, reminding them that this was not the time, nor place for fighting amongst themselves.

Now, all they were waiting for was the delegate, as they had found out it was only one person, from Cait Shelter. Which led Lucy to believe it must be an insanely strong mage, if he or she came by him or herself.

But, of course, she was proved wrong, as a cute, little girl, no older than Akashi and all the others, but considerably more adorable, stumbled in, even falling over seemingly nothing and faceplanting on the floor, introducing herself as Wendy.

The room remained silent for a moment, as everyone absorbed the shock of it only being a little, young girl, who had been sent from Cait Shelter. Finally, Jura simply just agreed to letting the little girl fight against Oración Seis, one of the strongest dark guilds out there. And also managing to send the group into motion again. Sherry, feeling insulted that they would only send off one mere girl to fight, was interrupted when a white cat broke her off.

The arrival of another talking cat, a friend and guild-mate of Wendy's, made Happy fall in love with her, Carla as her name was, while the white cat resumed to ignore the blue one.

The Trimen then proceeded to shamelessly court the young girl, just as they had Lucy and Erza, once again fueling the dislike especially the blonde felt towards their behavior and improperness, as opposed to what she had first thought when she met them. While Ichiya went off to gather some things for the sharing of information and making of plans, Wendy explained that she was not the fighting-type, more the supporting type, but asked to assist with fighting either way.

Finally, the briefing began, and everyone listened to what was being told. "North of our current location lies the Warth Woodlands. It is there that a mighty magic was sealed away in ancient times." Ichiya explained, striking a ridiculous pose, while his big potato of a nose reflected the light. "Its name… Nirvana." He introduced it.

Mutters broke out between the mages present, and it turned out no one, not even Jura, knew what this Nirvana was.

Different was it for the Blue Pegasus mages. "We know that its destructive power was so great that people then saw fit to seal it away." Ren told them.

"But we don't know exactly what kind of magic it was." Eve added.

"But since the Oración Seis have gathered in the Warth Woodlands, we should assume that Nirvana is their goal." Hibiki also added, making them all seem like they were triplets.

"In order to prevent them from obtaining it, we must act now!" Ichiya exclaimed. "We have twelve mages, whilst they have but only six. But we would do well not to underestimate them, each of those mages is extremely powerful." He said and struck a pose directed to Hibiki.

Hibiki raised two fingers to rest against the bridge of his nose, a golden light surrounding him. As soon as he swiped that same hand outwards, six different screens popped up in the air, each showing a person, who, Lucy assumed, in all likelihood probably were the ones they were going up against.

Hibiki enlarged one of the pictures, featuring a man with crimson red hair, tanned skin and a pair of narrow eyes accompanied with a menacing smirk. "Cobra, who uses poisonous snakes." Hibiki introduced, pulling out another screen, this one displaying a man with a long, blonde Mohawk and a pointy noise, as well as some kind of sunglasses connected to something, which seemed to support his jaw. "Racer, whose name would appear to indicate that he uses speed-related magic." Hibiki said with a little doubt lacing his voice.

Obviously Gajeel and Erza hadn't been lying to her the other day when they had told her they were an utmost secretive guild. Lucy tilted her head as she considered the names of the two presented guild members. It would seem their names were linked to their magic, Racer being that of speed, as Hibiki had speculated and Cobra something with snakes. It wasn't unlikely it would be the same for the rest of the guild.

Without taking note of Lucy's quick thinking, Hibiki continued on, enlarging another picture. This one showing what seemed to be a big man, the size of Jura, with a very squared face and long, curly, ginger hair. In all honestly, it was kind of creepy. "Hoteye of the Heavenly Eyes." Hibiki said. Next he expanded the size of the only picture presenting a girl. She had white hair and feathers adorning the top of whatever she was wearing. Beautiful, but also very dangerous, it could be seen even on the picture. "Angel, a woman who is said to be able to see into your heart." Hibiki introduced, not losing the host-personality he had even as he described an enemy.

Lucy only just managed to not roll her eyes at the behavior she become so familiar with from her own Spirit. Really, she wouldn't be surprised if this was where Loke learnt his host-traits while being one of Karen Lillica's Spirits.

Next, a picture of an emo-looking boy adorning semi-long, spiky black hair, with white hair under it, pointing out the contrast, as well as dark eyes and lipstick. Hibiki scrunched his face up a little bit with this one, a sign that he did not have much information on him. "Information on this man is scarce, but he is known as Midnight." He said. So it wasn't unthinkable to assume this guy had something to do with the cycle of the moon, either being stronger, weaker, transforming, _something_ at the point of midnight. The last picture to be introduced featured a man with dark tanned skin, a few shades lighter than Ren's, long, silver hair and weird lines travelling over his face. "And finally, their leader Brain." Hibiki introduced.

Lucy examined the pictures shrinking a little in size again and being lined up in two rows of three above each other. Just like she'd been told, there was no doubt every single one of these mages were strong, if not above S-Class level. She wouldn't be surprised if they were, really. After all, despite being few in numbers, they were a big guild.

The long-haired host looked out at all of them in front of him, while gently manipulating with his magic. "Each of these mages has the power to annihilate a guild single-handedly." He reminded them, making Lucy blanch a little at the though. She was screwed. Royally so. "We must take full advantage of our numerical superiority." Hibiki stated.

The blonde Celestial mage slowly felt the doubt she felt in herself being revived inside her. Each one of them could take out a guild by themselves, and she couldn't even take down a few bandits… She hadn't had close to enough training with Gajeel yet for it to could be enough to take on any of these people, they hadn't even gotten to the actual fighting-part!

Slowly, she raised her hand, drawing the Pegasus' attention to her. "I think you'll have to count me in on the support-front with Wendy, I'm not really a front-fighter." She admitted, feeling her cheeks heating up at the attention she suddenly got from all these people she hardly knew. And then the understanding, yet still slightly irritated, gazes and nods from her own team.

The little, blue haired girl went to stand next to Lucy as well, a smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm not good at fighting either." She said, glancing up at the blonde next to her.

"Wendy!" Carla called with a sharp voice next to her. "Will you stop being like that?!" She scolded the girl with a firm voice.

While Hibiki sent them both a kind of warm and reassuring smile, Ichiya the Disgusting struck one of his usual poses, looking at the two of them. "Worry not, lovely ladies, our strategy is not limited to simple combat." He reassured them. "The important point is that we locate their base of operation." He explained.

Lyon looked at the dwarf of a man, voicing his thoughts. Although in a very short sentence. "Their base?" He simply asked, demanding elaboration.

Which Ren granted him. "We have yet to confirm this for certain, but we believe they have established a temporary base of operation in the Woodlands." He explained.

Ichiya struck yet another pose, sparkles glinting about him in the air. "If at all possible, we want to get all six of them together at that base." He told them. Ahh, so they would be easier to defeat all at once? When they were all together.

Gray stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the Pegasus members with a scowl on his face. The one he always wore when things got more serious. "And how do we do that?" He asked, sounding like he didn't believe it to be possible himself.

Natsu raised both hands in eager readiness. "By beating them up!" He said loudly and as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucy sweat dropped at her friend and partner. "That… Kind of defeats the purpose…" She said in a low mutter not even sure if anyone besides the Fire Dragon Slayer heard it.

Erza, placing one hand on each hip, easily drew focus to herself. "What do we do once they are gathered there?" She asked the Pegasus.

Ichiya the Disgusting pointed up in the air, conveniently given the opportunity to alter his pose. Again. "We use out guild's mighty Pegasus Airship, the Christina to destroy their base and them along with it!" He exclaimed.

Sherry was as surprised as everyone else, but was the only one to voice it. "A magical bomber?!" She asked them, probably not having foreseen they'd go to such great lengths to get this guild down.

The Celestial mage looked at Ichiya with an unbelieving expression. "… You're bringing a bomber craft against humans…?" She asked. Having gotten used to Fairy Tail's no killing policy, this was quite a big thing for her to suddenly have to be a part of.

Jura nodded sternly, his expression solemn. "That is the nature of the enemy we face." He said, also sounding like it displeased him to be forced to kill them. "Now, take heed…" He warned her and the others. "If combat does ensue, nobody is to attempt to face an enemy alone. You must always do battle in groups of at least two." He told her. Oh yeah, way to boost her confidence in beating these guys.

It worked the other way around for her pink haired team mate though, as he with a smirk on his face slammed one clenched fist into the other's palm. "Yosh! I'm all fired up!" He exclaimed his trademark saying. "I'M GONNA TAKE ALL SIX ON BY MYSELF!" He yelled as he sprinted out of the hall, an excited grin spreading on his face.

"No Natsu! Listen to strategy! Just for once…" She muttered the last part, seeing as the Fire Dragon Slayer had already disappeared. "Ahhh…" She complained.

Gray picked up speed and followed after his teammate. "That absolute idiot…" He grunted as he began to chase down his rival.

Erza, also following the other two sighed. "I suppose we should follow them." She said and began moving towards the door.

Why in the world could Natsu not just follow the plan and strategy they had made for _once_ in his life? Was it that hard? That taxing for him to do? If she couldn't convince him to follow the plan, there was a big chance he would just mess the otherwise brilliant plan up instead! She had to convince him!

And with that, she followed her team, closely chased after by the other guilds.

 **Okay, so that's that. We kickstarted the Oración Seis arc. I know, it leans** _ **very much**_ **baack to back with the cannon, dialogue and what happens. And I'm sorry. It is not here it will be changed, and no, I won't show the entire Oración Seis arc, as that is not what my focus is on with this story, please forgive me. But I will add some, as I guess it also has some significance. XD**

 **Anyway, despite only half of it actually being from my imagination, most of the dialogue has not been changed, I hope it was fun enough to read anyway!**

 **Also! GOOD NEWS! My pc won't be taken away from me again - Que happy tears - it seems it is something in the software it's gone wrong, so my nerd (meant in the most appreciative way possible) of a dad can probably figure something out ^-^ Yup, so no chapters will be delayed!**

 **Thank you to all of you, readers, followers, favorites and reviews! Love ya' sweeties~**

 **~Line464d**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Ready for the procrastinated chapter? ^_^  
Wanna try doing things a bit backwards this time around, hope you'll like it~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Well, I don't believe I have to keep saying this, but the two old men aren't even budging. They won't share what they have with poor, lil' me. **

**At Earth~**

Lucy jolted up where she lay, faintly recognizing that she was in the gym, before getting absorbed in her worries. She _knew_ this would happen! She knew it! But she still couldn't prevent it. For Mavis' sake… And now they knew.

That didn't even matter, how were they all doing? They had split up, each going to take down one of the Oración Seis. Her eyes widened and she froze mid-thought, her breathing stopping as her thought did. Hibiki. He had been there too. She had to go back! She had left him there to fend for himself, against Angel! He couldn't survive that… Or maybe, even worse… He _would_ survive.

Her thoughts swirled in his mind as she remembered everything which had happened.

 **Earlier~**

" _Please, hurry everyone…" Lucy muttered, Plue agreeing next to her. They were both watching the wounded and fatally poisoned Erza, who had passed out with labored breath._

 _It was horrible. After everyone had left the villa, chasing after Natsu, they had more or less crashed right into the six members! The six strong mages easily beat the entire light alliance, minus Jura and Ichiya, who had lacked behind, without even breaking a sweat. Or opening their eyes at all, Midnight seemed to have slept through it all on his magic carpet. During this battle, a big snake Cobra had brought bit Erza's arm, sending a fatal poison into her veins, leaving her to suffer till she died._

 _Jura had shown up in the nick of time to save them all from certain death, as Brain noticed Wendy, having recognized her as the 'Sky Sorceress' and kidnapped her and Happy by accident, leaving the rest behind. Ichiya had spread some kind of perfume of his, which eased the pain enough for them all to could move again, before explaining that Ichiya had first somehow been beat up, then copied by two small Spirits. Ones Lucy and Team Natsu quickly recognized to be Gemini, due to their close studying earlier on. Gemini had fooled and wounded Jura, keeping him back._

 _Now everyone except herself and Hibiki were out searching for the members of Oración Seis, Wendy and Happy, aiming to rescue the latter two. But it wasn't just for the sake of rescuing Wendy and Happy that they had hurried so, they had a deadline. If they did not bring Wendy, who had turned out to be a Sky Dragon Slayers, just like Natsu, and who could heal Erza's arm, quickly enough, Erza would…. She would… Die._

 _Lucy realized she had no chance of fighting against these people, who so easily had beaten them to the point of could have easily killed them, and decided to stay with Hibiki and watch over Erza instead._

" _And that's everyone out in the Woodlands." Hibiki said, dragging out the 'and'. He was standing with his back to a large tree and was looking through the screens in front of him, having appeared from his magic, which she realized she still did not know what was. "You sure you're not going?" He asked her after a moment of silence._

 _Lucy smiled softly, her eyes landing on Erza's mis-colored arm. "We can't just leave Erza alone, can we?" This was all she could do anyway. "And when it comes to fighting I am clearly going to be of no use." She muttered to herself._

 _Unintentionally, Hibiki caught it. "You don't have to put yourself down like that.." He said, furiously pressing the buttons on his materialized magic. Without looking up at her, he continued. "I've heard rumors about you. How you took down a three-meter gorilla-" Was that supposed to be the Vulcan Taurus and Natsu had beaten up on their first unofficial mission? "Defeated the Phantom Master so thoroughly he could never recover-" Where did that even come from? "Took on a thousand-strong army in Acalypha single-handedly." While it was true she went to Acalypha to save Jude from what she thought would be his death, it was certainly not against a thousand-strong army._

 _Lucy sat back and looked back at him. "I'm afraid they're nothing more than exaggerations, Hibiki. Rumors, really." She said, trying to ignore the burning feeling she had when she said it._

 _Hibiki glanced back at her from the corner of his eye, sending her what would have been a dazzling smile, had she not gotten used to Loke's advances. "Exaggerations, you say?" He asked her. "Then they're not all lies, right?"_

 _Lucy smiled at him, as he turned back to his screens, once again impressed he had the overview to could figure them all out at once. "What about you?" She asked him. "Aren't you going with the others?" She inquired._

 _She saw the corner of the young man's lips turn upwards a little, his eyes fluttering around from screen to screen. "I can hardly leave you two ladies alone here, now can I?" He asked._

 _The blonde smiled and tilted her head. "You're actually a pretty nice guy, huh…" She commented, looking at him through the strands which now fell over her face._

 _Hibiki just shook his head a little. "Besides, my magic has the ability to guide others to our location." He said, his expression growing a little serious again. "Even if they do succeed in rescuing Wendy and Happy, if they cannot find back here, it will all have been for nothing." He reminded her._

 _They sat in silence a moment as Lucy turned back to Erza, once again feeling her pulse and breath. It wasn't as strong as she would have liked, but it was still there, which meant there was still time. However little it was._

" _Natsu-kun." She heard Hibiki say in a low voice, looking back to see him focusing on one screen in particular. She couldn't see what was on it though. "Can you hear me?" He asked the screen._

 _Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she watched the other conscious person in her presence. What was he doing? Did he have Telepathy magic, just like Warren? That had to be it._

" _It's me, Hibiki of Blue Pegasus." He introduced himself to seemingly no one. "Thank goodness… I was getting worried because I wasn't getting through to anyone." He said with a relieved tone._

' _Wasn't getting through to anyone'? So that was why he had seemed so focused on his screens before? He was trying to 'get through' to some of them._

 _There was a silence for a short moment, before he seemed to answer something Natsu had said. "Keep it down! One of our enemies has incredibly good hearing." He quickly warned Natsu, remembering himself to keep his voice down._

 _Yep, that was Natsu all right. And was it that guy… Cobra he was talking about? She remembered him saying something about him being able to hear something in the heat of the fight earlier, but precisely because of the stress and pressure, she hadn't listened properly._

" _There's every possibility that he's eavesdropping on our conversation now." He told Natsu. "That's why I'm speaking directly to your head." He said, continuing to press all of those buttons on the golden, magic keyboard in front of him. "What's the situation with Wendy-chan?" He asked him, none of his host-personality showing through this time._

 _It was obvious he was really focused on the situation at hand, just as he should be. He really needed to teach Natsu and Gray that level-headedness sometime._

 _After a moment of silence a tiny smile spread on Hibiki's face. "Thank goodness! Excellent work!" He complimented the Fire Dragon Slayer. He had found Wendy already? Well, that wasn't unlike Natsu either, she thought with a fond smile. "I'm going to upload a map to lead you to where we are. Please hurry back." Hibiki told him. Ending the long rant of pushing keys, he told Natsu to hurry once again, before seemingly ending the conversation._

 _Lucy turned half around and looked curiously at Hibiki, wondering what he had meant with uploading a map to Natsu. "How did you do that?" She finally asked him._

 _Never ceasing in his pushing of keys, Hibiki answered her question. "My magic, 'Archive', can compress information." He explained to her. "It allows me to transfer information from person to person quicker than would be possible through verbal communication." He told her._

" _I've never heard of a magic like that." She commented. There was no doubt it was one of the more useful in a situation like this though._

 _Hibiki turned his head around and gave her a smile. "Well, the concept of using magic to convert information into data is a relatively recent one." He reassured her._

 _Lucy nodded, turning her gaze to the ground. "Still, I'm glad to hear Wendy's safe…" She said and turned her gaze to Erza. For everyone's sakes. She gently placed a hand on Erza's healthy one and squeezed it. "Just hang in there a little longer, Erza…" She told the redhead. "I know you can do it!" If Erza couldn't, no one could. "Until Natsu gets back here, I'll protect you myself. I swear!" She said in a much lower voice. She wasn't strong, she wouldn't be able to beat anyone if they came, but with Hibiki's help, she was sure she could at least draw out some time for Natsu to could come._

 _She didn't get to say anything further, when a sudden explosion sounded from somewhere far away. She looked in the direction. "What was that?" She asked._

 _Before Hibiki could answer, Natsu burst in from the forest, a crazy expression on his face as he was carrying Carla and Happy in one arm and Wendy thrown over the opposite shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "WE'RE HERE~!" He yelled too loudly._

" _Natsu!" Lucy greeted him, a smile forming on her lips. Finally! He was here! Erza was saved and Wendy was unharmed as well!_

" _WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Natsu yelled, obviously hyper for whatever reason. "SUDDENLY THIS MAP SHOWING ME HOW TO GET HERE APPEARED IN MY HEAD!" He told them eagerly and confusedly, a big grin on his face._

 _Hibiki, finally leaving his golden screens behind, turned to Natsu. "That can wait." He told the Dagon Slayer. "Bring Wendy-chan here." He asked, gesturing to the little bluenette._

 _Natsu nodded. "Oh yeah!" He said, dropped the two cats and placed Wendy on the ground. For a moment, Lucy was about to smile at his sudden gentleness, but quickly came upon other thoughts when he grabbed the little girl's shoulders and shook her violently, as if a demon had possessed him. "WAKE UP, WENDY! C'MON YOU GOTTA SAVE ERZA!" He screeched right into the other Dragon Slayer's ears._

 _Lucy jumped to her feet and held Natsu back. "Calm down, Natsu!" She told him, and actually made him stop._

 _Wendy slowly opened her eyes, then noticed who she was in close proximity with and almost flew back and away from him. "Ahhh!" She blurted out covering her head in her trembling hands, hiding the tears that were building in her eyes. "I'm so sorry….! I…" She trailed off._

 _Much to Lucy's surprise, Natsu kneeled down on the ground in front of the girl, his face almost touching the pebbles there. "That doesn't matter right now!" Natsu told her quickly. "Erza was taken out by a poisonous snake!" He hurriedly told her, his eyes clenching shut as his forehead actually touched the ground. "You've got to help her!" Natsu said. "Please!" He begged her, almost in panic._

 _Wendy, if not baffled by the shift in Natsu's personality, was at what he had said. "Poison?" She asked timidly._

 _Hibiki nodded in confirmation. "We need Erza-san's power on our side in the battle against Oración Seis." He told the little girl._

 _Lucy agreed. They needed as many fight-based mages here as possible, and missing an S-Class was simply not an option. "Please…" She said, bowing her head to Wendy, but not as exaggeratedly as Natsu. "You have to save Erza!" She told the blue-haired girl._

 _Wendy looked confusedly around all of them, before determination set in on her face. "O-of course!" She said, a bit of her otherwise timid personality showing._

 _The Pegasus' nodded and sent the younger girl a smile as her light blue magic covered first her hand, then the entirety of the redhead's body. Hibiki then turned to Natsu and Happy, who were sitting together. "Please, Happy-kun and Natsu-kun, tell me what happened." He asked of the two Fairies. Lucy also turned to the two, figuring just as Hibiki that they shouldn't bother the very focused little girl._

 _Natsu looked at Happy, urging him to explain as he had heard more than Natsu in a rare streak of intelligence. Happy raised a paw and scratched the back of his head in thought and consideration. "Well… Where do I start..?" He mumbled._

 _Lucy smiled at the cat. "What about why they took Wendy?" Lucy asked. "Of course, only if you know." She quickly added at the end, not even sure if the six members had told them anything._

 _Happy nodded, a proud smile on his face. "I know! I know!" He jumped to his feet and continued jumping where he stood eagerly. "They want to use Nirvana!" He said, before his expression dropped a little. "But to do that… They had to heal someone…" Happy trailed off, all the previous energy disappeared._

 _Natsu growled something out. But it was too much growl and too little talk, so no one understood what he said. After being asked to clarify, he repeated himself. "Jellal." He growled out, this time understandably._

 _Lucy's eyes widened and shot to the fortunately still unconscious redhead. Jellal, the one who had caused Erza and her childhood friends so, so much pain. The one who caused Simon to die and who died himself at last. What could they need him for?_

 _Hibiki frowned as he observed the pinket's reaction. "Jellal?" He asked. Oh right, he wouldn't know._

 _Lucy turned her head to him and nodded. "Yes, Jellal Fernandes. He was a part of the Magic Council for a while, but turned out to be a dark mage. We beat him some time ago, he is supposed to be dead." She curtly explained, more probably wasn't necessary for now. She looked back at Natsu and Happy. "What did they need him for?" She asked them._

 _Happy frowned as he scratched his temples in thought. "Uhm…." He said. "Fish, fish, fish…" He muttered as a mantra to set his thoughts into motion, to which the blonde couldn't help but giggle. "Yes!" He said, stretching a paw up in the air. "It was because there's a seal on Nirvana! The Magic Council put it there! And only the Council's members know where it's hidden! That's why!" He said, proud of himself for remembering it all._

 _Natsu's face contorted in anger as he snarled once again. "And they succeeded. Jellal's alive again." He added, the hate he felt for the blue-haired man visible for anyone to see, almost floating in the air around him._

 _Likewise, Hibiki's face also twisted in worry. It was obvious he was a little confused, after all he didn't know anything about Jellal, other than what he had just been told. But it seemed he adopted some of Natsu's attitude towards him. "Happy-kun, were you told what Nirvana could do?" He asked the blue cat._

 _Happy nodded seriously. "Yes! The big, ugly guy with the lines on his face said something about turning light to dark and the other way around." He told them all._

 _Lucy nodded. Something that could turn light to dark? And the other way around? That was a dangerous weapon. But how would it benefit them at all? If everything was inverted to being the opposite of what it was, then they would be 'light' too, while Fairy Tail, to take an example, would be 'dark'. Either way, the enemies would still be the same. What was the point? To only make themselves light? That still didn't make sense. Make everything else dark? Surely Nirvana wasn't that simple to use, as to could only change one part. Magic like that wasn't easy to control like that. Well, it was all theories, Happy hadn't specified whether this was about people or what it was, so she couldn't be certain._

 _The Celestial mage felt the light magical pressure coming from the blue-haired girl dissipate and looked over to see the girl sitting on her knees with her eyes clenched shut. Tears were building in her eyes, as her trembling hands were fisted by her sides. "I-I'm so sorry guys…" She said._

 _Carla stepped up to stand next to the Sky Dragon Slayer, giving her a firm gaze, yet full of love. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, Wendy. You were forced to do that by people much stronger than you." She told the bluenette._

 _Wendy shook her head swiftly, her hair flying about around her. "But that's the thing! They didn't force me! I_ chose _to heal him!" She said, furiously wiping a stray tear from her eye._

 _Lucy's eyes widened as she took in what the girl said. "Wh… Why would you do that?" She asked the girl. If she was on Oración Seis' side… This was a weird way of showing it. Stupid, even. That obviously wasn't it._

 _Wendy turned her gaze away to the ground, which she stared at like there was nothing more interesting in the world. "I… It wasn't for Oración Seis I did it, I swear!" She said firmly, glancing up at them all, lingering a little by Natsu before once again returning to the ground. "I owe J-Jellal a huge debt…" She muttered, barely audible even in the completely silent area. "I-I couldn't just… Just…" She trailed off._

 _Lucy moved over and gently squeezed Wendy's shoulder. "Don't worry Wendy, we understand." She reassured the younger girl, sending Natsu a fierce glare, when he was about to protest, before turning back to the young girl and giving her a warm smile._

 _She saw tears of gratitude building at the girl's eyes. Before any could fall, she threw her arms around Lucy and hid her face against the blonde's shoulder. "T-thank you.." She stammered timidly, her voice flooded with emotion._

 _The Celestial mage smiled and gently stroke the girl's hair comfortingly. "Did you manage to heal Erza, Wendy-chan?" She gently asked her._

 _Wendy leaned back, wiping her eyes and nodding. "Yeah, there's no more poison left in Erza's body." She reassured the older girl._

 _Lucy smiled widely and pulled the girl in for another bone-crushing hug. "Thank you so much, Wendy-chan!" She thanked the girl, while Hibiki and Natsu shared a high-five. Carla even agreed to high-paw Happy that one time._

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer approached the two girls, both hands up for a high-five and all smiles. The two reached out and accepted his offer, smiling in response to him. "Thanks." Natsu also said._

 _Wendy smiled and glanced down at Erza, who was moaning a little in her sleep, but had otherwise regained the ability to breathe properly. "She may not open her eyes for a while yet…" She said and smiled at Natsu. "But she'll be okay now." She reassured them._

 _Lucy felt a warm mix of emotions pitting at the bottom of her stomach, consisting of relief, love and general happiness for Erza's increasing well-being._

 _She turned to look at her friend, only to be shocked at what she saw. "Incredible.." Hibiki commented, sitting on his knees as close to Erza as possible and leaning down over the redhead with his face less than an inch from her friend's. "The color really is returning to her face.." He stated. "So this is Sky magic."_

 _Lucy sweat dropped at the scene, imagining what would happen to the Pegasus mage if Erza awoke at that moment. "Hibiki, you might want to move…" She said. Besides, it was doubtful he could even see the change in her color at that close proximity._

 _Carla suddenly stepped forward, her paws crossed in front of her. "May I say something?" She asked, gaining everyone present's attention. "I would request that you do not force Wendy to use her Sky magic any further." She said, stunning the mages present. "As you can see, using this magic takes up large quantities of Wendy's magical power." She stated. Well, of course healing somebody would be tough on the magic-reserves. It was a large task after all._

 _Wendy quickly shot to her feet. "No! Don't worry about me!" She said, adorable determination spreading on her face._

 _Hibiki shook his head. "I believe Carla-san is right, Wendy-chan, you should take it easy for now, you have used a lot of your magic." He said, indirectly referring to her having healed Jellal up as well. "Now all we can do is wait for Erza-san to wake up and then make a counterattack." He told them all._

 _Natsu entered a ready-to-fight stance, fire lighting up around his fists. "Yosh! Time to take down Oración Seis!" He announced._

 _Happy agreed, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, as he pumped a clenched paw in the air. "Yeah! We're not letting them have Nirvana!" He added._

 _Any continuation of their conversation, when an explosion of light suddenly filled the area. They all looked in the direction of which it had originated with collective gasps, seeing a pillar of black light rising from a place so, so long away._

 _Lucy blanched, realizing what that had to be. "That… That's… Nirvana!" There was no doubt about it, nothing else could have such a heavy magical pressure or such an ominous appearance. "Then Oración Seis beat us to it already?!" She half yelled in her surprise._

" _That light.." She heard Natsu murmur next to her. Seeing his state, she jolted away from him in pure reflex. "Jellal's there..!" He growled, more angry than she had seen him be for a long time, angry flames licking furiously at his skin. Without a second thought, he burst into motion, almost flying into the forest._

" _Natsu! Wait!" Lucy waited, but she knew it was already too late. Even if he had been in range to could hear her, the surge of his anger would probably drown it out anyway. Lucy turned around, about to announce she would follow Natsu, when she noticed something beyond vital._

 _But she wasn't the one to voice her thoughts though. "ERZA! Where did you go? It's not the time to play hide and seek!" Happy yelled._

" _Idiot cat." Carla just mumbled._

 _Lucy blanched. There was no doubt… "She heard Natsu." She murmured. She recognized Jellal's name and disappeared!_

 _Wendy fell to her knees, hiding her face in her hands, trembling all over with her unshed tears. "Oh, no… I… I…. It's all my fault…" She said, curling up in a ball, a weird aura appearing around her. "It's all because I healed Jellal… They found Nirvana… And now- and now Erza-s-san and, and Natsu-san… And…"_

 _She was cut off from her rant, in which her voice twisted in sorrow as she went, when Hibiki immediately blasted the young girl with his golden Archive-magic._

 _While Wendy flew back, a silent scream erupting from her, Carla flew up in a fit of fury. "WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" She raged._

 _Hibiki went to pick up the girl he had just attacked, completely ignoring the confused and angry shouts from the people around him as he gave the bluenette a piggyback ride, walking off into the forest. "We have to go after Natsu-kun and Erza-san." He simply said, setting into a slow run._

 _The other three, after exchanging gazes, quickly followed after him. "Hibiki, wait! Why did you do that?" She asked him. She had two theories as to why he had done that and she liked neither of them._

 _He looked back at her from the corner of his eye, an apologetic smile on his face. "Sorry I startled you like that, but all I did was knock her unconscious." He said._

 _Carla, still furious with the guy's actions, probably no matter the reason, sped up a little. "That may be, but there was still no reason to be so rough! Certainly she can be a handful sometimes, but that was over the edge." She commented, Happy agreeing wholeheartedly with her._

 _Hibiki looked forward, then gave off a sigh. "I had to do it." He admitted. "The truth of the matter is…" he trailed off dramatically. "I'm familiar with the magic known as Nirvana." He said._

 _She didn't know how, but one way or another, she kept herself from screaming 'what' out loud. He knew about Nirvana already?! Then why in the world hadn't he said anything?_

 _Before anyone could ask him, he elaborated himself. "But because of its very nature, I couldn't tell anyone about it. Simply being aware of this magic is enough to put a person in danger." He told them, looking straight forward as he kept a steady pace._

 _Right at that certain moment, she was the slightest bit grateful for Gajeel and his horrendous training. She'd increased her stamina, and however slight it was, it was still something._

" _That's why Ichiya-san, Ren and Eve don't know anything… Only I was told the details by our Master." He told them, closing his eyes for a moment._

" _What do you mean?" Carla asked confusedly, but sternly._

 _Hibiki sighed. "It's an extremely dangerous form of magic. As Happy-kun said, it makes light and dark switch places, that's what Nirvana is." Yeah, that was what they had been told already, could he explain further on that? "But that's only the final stage." He then said, drawing all attention back at him again. "First of all, once the seal upon it is released, a black light bursts from it." He said and looked up at the pillar of black light in the direction they were headed. "That's what is happening right now." He told them, then turned back to look at all three. "The first thing the black light does is to cause those who are caught in the rift between light and dark to switch alignments completely." He told them._

 _Lucy snapped her fingers as it all made sense to her. "Right, so people on the side of light will convert to the dark side, if they experience powerful negative emotions. That's why you knocked Wendy out, am I right?" She asked him, offering him a weak smile._

 _The Pegasus nodded. "Powerful guilt such as what she experienced earlier is a very negative emotion. If I hadn't done something, she probably would have gone to the dark side." He explained himself._

" _Yeah, I understand that much." Lucy said. It had pretty much followed her theories so far. "But what about 'rage'? Isn't Natsu on the verge of converting too?" She asked him._

 _Hibiki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, if his rage is for somebody else's sake, then it may not be truly 'negatively', but I can't say. I don't know that much about it." He admitted._

 _Happy crossed his paws. "Yeah, but why didn't you tell before now?" Happy asked, confusion tangible in his voice._

 _Carla huffed and sent him an annoyed glance. "That's obvious, stupid cat. It's because if people begin thinking in 'good' and 'bad', negative emotions will spring up from it. 'If only that person wasn't around…', 'Whose fault is all this pain?', 'Why does it have to be me?'. Surely, Nirvana would judge these worries and doubts." The white cat explained._

 _Lucy turned to Hibiki with a frightened expression. "So if Nirvana is activated completely, wouldn't they turn light, while we turn dark?" She asked him._

 _He looked forward solemnly. "Yes." He said. "That too is entirely possible." He concluded. "But the nastiest part of Nirvana is the way it can be controlled, used to a specific end." He told them._

" _WHAT?!" Happy screeched loud enough for all of them. But it was exactly what Lucy had thought would've been impossible for it. Controlling it's effects to a specific area. That only made it that much more dangerous! Now she understood why Oración Seis would want it._

" _For instance." Hibiki continued, not taking any notice of the other three. "If Nirvana were to be directed at a specific guild… Former companions slaughtering one another without mercy, starting meaningless wars with other guilds, the user could make such things happen incredibly easily." He explained. "We must put an end to this without delay, or the world's light guilds will be obliterated." He dramatized._

 _At that moment, they reached a clearing with a river, and suddenly a voice appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Ohh, so you know about our plans, do you?" A light female voice with an undertone of malice said._

 _Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and looked around in the clearing, looking for the one speaking. "Who are you? Show yourself!" She called, although it was already quite obvious who it was._

 _A tingling, yet menacing, giggle rang in the clearing. "Oh my, how rude of me." The voice spoke. They all looked up when they saw movement on the other side of the riverbed. As expected, there stood the only female of Oración Seis. Angel. "I hope you will be more fun than this guy. It really was a shame." She said, gesturing to the unmoving form lying next to her on the ground._

 _Cautiously everyone looked at the miserable form on the ground, looking more dead than alive at the moment, completely still._

 _As the others gasped in surprise, Happy screamed. "NATSU!"_

 **Am I not a sadist, people? I feel like one. Just think of how bad this would've been had it been this chapter which was staying like this for those two weeks :3**

 **Either way, I was actually planning on finishing this flashback in this chapter, but as you can see it dragged out a lot and will instead continue next chapter, and hopefully also end there, as I have a little something planned for afterwards as well :3 Oh how I love throwing shade over stuff like dis~**

 **So, hope you guys'll be hanging around till the next chapter of…. BASKET AND STARS!  
\- I would be an awesome commentator at the end of episodes of series like DBZ, ne? **

**Thank you, you wonderful people, who decided it was a good idea to read, follow, favorite and review this story! Vous aimer, mes chéris! (French= Love you, my darlings! ;P)**

 **~Line464d**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **These three latest chapters have actually been kind of 'easy' to write, it's as if the words are just manifesting all on their own, I hardly have to think at all. Ahhh, what a relief ^_^  
Also… WE'VE REACHED MORE THAN 140 REVIEWS, MORE THAN 110 FOLLOWERS AND ARE ONLY 4 FAVORITES AWAY FROM 100! THANK YOU SO GODDAM MUCH, GUYS!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: I ain't the owner of KnB OR FT. It's stupid, but that's how it is. **

**At Earthland~**

" _NATSU!" Happy screamed, the others with him not able to do anything other than at the sight in front of them. Natsu lying on the ground underneath Angel's feet, unconscious and seemed to have been beaten roughly. While Angel didn't have a single scratch._

 _Lucy gritted her teeth and reached down at her belt, quickly finding the key she was looking for. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she wouldn't be able to beat this mage. She had beat Natsu, probably discovering his weakness for transportation and using the raft floating calmly on the river-surface, but nonetheless beat him. What she_ could _do was stall the Oración Seis member till the others had escaped. Still without looking away from the smirking Angel, she talked to the people with her. "Hibiki! Take Wendy and the cats away from here, it's too dangerous." She told him._

 _She saw Hibiki look her way, before turning away. "Carla, take Wendy away from here." He told the cat, who quickly complied, flying off at her top speed._

 _Lucy glanced back at Hibiki, catching his gaze. "What the hell are you doing Hibiki? Escape while you can!" She almost snapped at him, she didn't want this to be a waste. "Happy! Take him away!" She ordered the blue cat, while glaring at Angel, whose patience seemed to be wearing thing._

 _She jolted when a hand landed on her shoulder, and saw Hibiki's shaking face next to her. "No, you can't take her on on your own." He stated. Hadn't he figured out she had tried to sacrifice herself so they could escape? Damn Pegasus…_

 _Before she could even argue against said Pegasus, the blue cat also intervened. "I won't leave either!" He said determinedly._

 _Angel took a step forward. "Have you said your goodbyes? Let's have some fun." She said, tilting her head to the side in a way that would have been innocent for anyone else._

 _Faster than she'd ever done before, Lucy pulled out the specific key. "Open! Gate of the Archer!" She called and swiped the golden key downwards. "Sagittarius!" She announced._

 _A familiar golden light lit up the area beside her. "Moshi! Moshi!" He said with a salute, before he quickly fired an amazingly precise arrow at Angel, flying at the speed of lightning._

 _Angel hadn't made a move to evade the arrow, before the very last moment, when she somehow had grabbed Natsu and held him up as a shield. In an instant, the precise arrow was embedded deeply in the Fire Dragon Slayer, a clean hit supposed to hit an organ._

 _The horseman gasped at the sudden turn of events, horrified at his own actions. The way the breath caught in Happy's throat could be heard in the silent clearing, the only other sound being that of the calmly running water, standing in sharp contrast to the light mages' heads._

 _Happy fell to his small knees, his paws lifted to his face. "N-Natsu…" He whispered. "No…"_

 _Lucy took a slow and trembling step forward. "I-it can't be…" She muttered. That hit. That clean hit. There was no doubt it would be impossible to survive, even for Natsu. The shock of that realization made her mind go blank. Not a single though passed through her head, only silent shock and petrification._

 _Happy burst into movement, charging at the pinkette and the white-haired lady. "I'LL SAVE YOU, NATSU!" He yelled desperately. Lucy was about to shout at the cat to stop._

 _The pinkette stood with his body hunched over the arrow, and his head facing the ground, casting his eyes in a shadow made by his bangs. "Happy… Has the power to fly, can carry only one person at a time, useless in battle." Natsu muttered. "Information retrieval complete." He added._

 _Happy stopped in his tracks. First he was happy his partner was even alive, but then confused when what he said didn't make any sense. "Natsu..?" Lucy asked hesitantly and confusedly._

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer tilted his head upwards and looked at her with a smirk. "Natsu's opinion of Lucy: Best friend, nice, strong-" Lucy felt warmth built up in her. Did Natsu really think about her like that? "Heavier than she looks, demon-" And then anger instead. No doubt, that was all Natsu. "Celestial mage." He trailed off. "Well, not surprising at this point." He breathed in heavily and then released said breath in only a second's time mixed with fire. A wide pillar of fire charged at the blonde. Had he shifted? Become dark?_

 _She was so confused, her body wouldn't react to her instincts telling her to get away immediately. In that instant, right before the roar of fire magic would have hit her, Hibiki jumped in front of her, creating a form of shield with his Archive magic, protecting the both of them against the destructive magic._

 _The Pegasus mage looked up at the wounded Natsu. "You're not Natsu-kun." He stated. "Who are you?" He asked the both of them._

 _Lucy cursed her own stupidity. Of course this wasn't Natsu. None of the people on her team were the kind, who wavered like that. Natsu wouldn't ever attack her as seriously as he just had. They were friends, best friends._

 _The blonde shook her head. "No, it's Gemini." She said, remembering the Twin Spirits' special ability being that to transform to another person, gaining knowledge about them and the people around them._

 _This was further confirmed, when Natsu suddenly popped into Lucy, the arrow still in its stomach. Lucy's eyes widened at that realization. Angel had to be an amazing Celestial mage, if she could keep her Spirits out even after they had taken serious damage._

 _They watched as the other Lucy pulled the arrow out of her stomach without even wincing. Hibiki narrowed his eyes at the copy. "…Are you stupid?" He asked both Angel and Gemini. "What's the point of changing to Lucy, when the real one is right here?" He asked._

 _Angel's smirk widened. "The point? Well, you strike me as the type who has a weakness for women." The dark mage commented, gesturing to Gemini._

 _It took less than a second for Lucy to figure out what Gemini was about to do, as the copy grabbed the bottom of her green tank-top and began pulling upwards. Feeling a sudden surge of power, she shot off from the ground as if the devil had been after her, easily jumping over the quite broad river as if it was nothing, surprising everyone present, including herself._

 _She landed safely on the other side of the riverbed, and furiously pulled down at her copy's shirt. "Don't you even_ dare _!" She growled out._

 _Gemini smiled an ominous smile. "Stellar Spirit information retrieved." The copy said, confusing Lucy once again. "How impressive…" It whispered, barely even audible to Lucy, who stood so close to the Spirit. Then, the other blonde tilted her head a little. "Sagittarius, if you would." She asked._

 _The archer pulled up his arrow, against his will, and shot an arrow right at the blonde. Lucy looked back to see the rapidly approaching arrow. She tilted a little back in pure reflex, only feeling and hearing as the arrow whistled past her face, only a mere inch away._

" _Shit…" Lucy muttered and pointed the golden key out in the air. "Forced Gate Closure!" She chanted as Sagittarius quickly disappeared in a poof of golden light, a faint apology from him sounding in the air. Gemini could manipulate her Spirits, and it would therefore not be unlikely she could summon them too._

 _And as she had expected, Gemini pulled her own Sagittarius key out of her pouch. "Open, Gate of the-"_

 _Lucy cut the Spirit short, when she spun around and delivered a powerful kick to the Spirit's waist. "Take_ that! _" She said loudly. As expected, the Spirit poofed out of existence and back to the Spirit World. It would be vital that Gemini was unavailable during this fight, so she was certain she had full control of her own Spirits. And with the wounds the Spirit had suffered, it was unlikely it would be able to come back anytime soon. '_ Grandpa Crux. _' She called to her Southern Cross Spirit._

'Yes, Miss Lucy?' C _ame Crux' immediate reply. Good, that meant all her Spirits knew of the situation and were on high alert._

 _Lucy smiled. '_ Can you tell me the other keys the owner of Gemini has?' S _he asked the old Spirit. It involved Celestial Spirit magic, so surely he could answer that._ Please hurry. _She added._

'Yes, Miss Lucy.' _He replied, and only a moment later she heard his snoring in her mind, already not looking forward to when he would wake up._

" _Hmm? The blonde one's not all stupid, huh?" Angel taunted, pulling Lucy out of her conversation with her silver Spirit. "Lucy-chan, was it?" She asked, sounding almost kind._

 _Lucy crouched down a little, narrowing her eyes at the other Celestial mage. "Yeah, that's me." She confirmed._

 _The Oración Seis mage tilted her head and sent the blonde a narrow smile. "What did you think of my little trick, Lucy-chan?" She asked her, amusement clearly tingling in her dark blue eyes._

 _Said blonde just fixed the white-haired mage a glare. "It was_ very _entertaining." She sneered sarcastically._

 _Angel smiled sardonically. "Right?" She simple asked, clearly finding heaps of fun with the current situation._

'Miss Lucy, my search is complete' _Crux suddenly intervened._

'Good job, Grandpa Crux! What did you find?' _She asked him while keeping an eye on her opponent._

'In addition to Gemini, your opponent, Sorano Aguria, has the Chisel, Caelum of the silver keys, the Scorpion, Scorpio and the Ram, Aries of the Zodiac keys.' _He told her._

 _Lucy nodded internally. Okay, she had been researching her Spirits and had surprisingly enough gotten Aquarius to tell her who this boyfriend she always talked about was. Scorpio, the Scorpion, one of the Zodiac Spirits. Also, she knew of Loke and Aries' past with Karen. It would be stupid if she paired the two pairs up, it would be mean and meaningless._

'Is there anything else I should be aware of, Grandpa Crux?' _She asked the old Spirit._

'Hmm…' _The old Spirit trailed off._ 'Yes, there is one more thing.' _He then told her._ 'It would seem Sorano killed Karen to acquire those keys. Karen was Hibiki's former lover, so it would be preferable if he did not find this out.' _The Spirit told her._

 _Lucy's eyes widened a fraction, as she didn't want Angel to figure her out. If Hibiki found out that this woman killed Karen… Well, there'd be no doubt he'd convert from light to dark through Nirvana. That couldn't happen. Then she wouldn't even be able to stall._ 'Thank you, Grandpa Crux, you've been very helpful.' _She said before cutting the connection with her Spirit._

 _She returned her full attention to the opposing mage, realizing the white-haired girl was waiting for her to make the first move. And that, she would._

 _She quickly pulled out one of her keys, swiping it in the air. "Open, Gate of the Maiden. Virgo!" She called as the golden light appeared and left the pink-haired maid behind._

" _What shall I do, Lucy-hime?" She asked her blonde mistress._

 _Lucy smiled. "The thing you do best, Virgo." She said, to which she got a curt nod from the Maiden._

 _Angel raised an eyebrow and pulled out a key of her own. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion. Scorpio." She called as the usual golden light shone a little in front of her._

 _Out appeared Scorpio, a guy with tanned skin, short hair and a scorpion's tail, one half red, the other white. "We are!" He declared loudly._

 _Virgo looked straight into the other Spirit's eyes. "Greetings, Scorpio." She greeted him._

 _Scorpio entered some 'cool' stance with his thumb and two outer fingers sticking out. "Hey, Virgo!" He responded, his wide smile wavering for just a moment._

 _Angel pointed forward. "Scorpio, please." She said, gesturing towards the other Spirit present. "Take this Spirit out." She told him._

 _The Scorpion nodded and went down on all fours, jutting his tail forward with the momentum, sand bursting out from it and towards the pinkette. Virgo jumped into the air and dived down into the earth like a dolphin in water._

 _Lucy quickly jumped to the right, evading the sand from the Scorpion. Just as the Maid jumped up from the earth and began delivering kicks and punches to Scorpio, Lucy decided it would not be right of her to just stand by on the sidelines. She pulled out her black whip as quickly and smoothly as she could, so she wouldn't draw attention from Angel, who was focusing on the Spirits' battle._

 _She quickly swung the whip forward towards the girl, who first noticed a moment too late and tried to cover herself with her arm. Bad move, as the whip curled around the woman's arm tightly. Lucy smiled as she pulled at the whip, hoping to trip the mage._

 _Instead, Angel used Lucy's powerful pull to her advantage, utilizing the freely gained momentum to shoot forward at a much faster pace. She raced towards Lucy, who was now left completely open. When she came within range, the white-haired woman thrust her palm forward, hitting Lucy's chest cleanly._

 _All the air in Lucy's lungs was forced out with the blow, and she flew back a little. "Lucy-hime!" Virgo exclaimed and quickly delivered a forceful kick to Angel's face, sending her flying back too. Scorpio quickly retaliated by sending another twister of sand at Virgo, who was standing with her back to the other Spirit. Virgo hissed in pain the moment Scorpio's hit landed, turning to her mistress. "Punishment?" She asked as she disappeared._

 _Angel turned to Scorpio, anger flooding her facial expression. "SCORPIO! KILL THAT GIRL NOW!" She ordered her golden Spirit._

 _Lucy watching in shock as the Scorpion's expression twisted with regret directed at her, before it vanished and he pounced into the air, his tail raised at the ready. However, he was cut short as he was hit by a ray of pure, golden magic coming from the other side of the river. With a tiny smile, the Spirit dissolved into small speckles of golden light._

 _Lucy gave Hibiki a smile and a thumbs-up as a temporary thanks, until she got a better chance and jumped to her feet, almost simultaneously with Angel, who looked at the blonde with near foaming fury. "You_ wench _!" She shrieked at Lucy. "How_ dares _your Spirit kick_ my _beautiful face?!" She screamed at her. Having lost any semblance of patience, she tore her other key out of her pouch and swiped it down. "ARIES!" She screamed in a high pitch._

 _The Spirit appeared with a poof, her hair pink and puffy, just like her wooly clothes, two ram-horns sticking out from the puffy mess of pink. "Y-yes Angel-sama? I'm so so-sorry!" The Spirit nervously stammered._

" _KILL THAT GIRL!" Angel demanded, sounding like one of those snobby brats, who'd had everything served to them on a silver platter. Only, Lucy knew she wasn't._

 _Lucy smirked as the realization that with Scorpio out of the picture, she could summon her strongest Spirit without any problems. Perfect._

 _Before the pink-haired Spirit could do anything to stop her, Lucy swiftly covered the ground between herself and the river, sticking one of her oldest, golden keys into the water. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer!" She said, feeling her magic swell inside of her, mixed with the adrenaline caused by the quickly approaching Ram Spirit. "AQUARIUS!" She called loudly._

 _The mermaid looked down at Lucy with a furious glare. "WHAT THE HELL, BIMBO?! I WAS TAKING CARE OF MY HURT_ BOYFRIEND _!" The Spirit declared, putting extra emphasis on 'boyfriend'._

 _Lucy smiled fondly at the temperamental Spirit. "Please help me, Aquarius! You can take me with the blast too!" She quickly added, knowing there'd be no other way around either way._

" _DAMN RIGHT I WILL!" She yelled, readying her gourd for a powerful flood._

" _Aries! Attack Aquarius!" The white-haired Celestial mage ordered. The pinkette quickly changed direction, pushing off the ground towards the Water Bearer with a cute, determined expression. "Caelum!" Angel yelled. Lucy furrowed her eyebrow. What was Angel doing? And… She could summon two Spirits at once?!_

" _HA!" Aquarius laughed, having almost filled her gourd. "Take thi- ARGH!" She screamed, as suddenly she and Aries both were left with a hole through their midsection from a blast of Caelum's._

 _Lucy's eyes widened. "AQUARIUS!" She screamed in worry and horror at the sight before her. This was the kind of Celestial mage she swore she would never become, the one who used their Spirits as shields and tools instead of the living and breathing beings they were. Yes, maybe they were immortal and wouldn't die, but that didn't mean they didn't feel pain._

 _Aquarius sent Lucy an unreadable expression, before disappearing in a shower of golden speckles of light, mixed with the ones Aries released at her exit. But what Lucy saw on Aries' face was a look of pure sadness._

 _Caught in her thoughts, she didn't see her opponent approaching and as such had no time to prepare for the kick that was sent her way. With a gasp of pain, she felt a burst of pain from the soft spot just above her hips. She lost her balance at the surprise-attack and landed in the water and in the spur of the moment, she managed to inhale water with her gasp._

 _She shot up and began coughing and spluttering violently to get the water out of her lungs, trying with all her might to ignore the other Celestial mage's evil cackling. Still panting from the sudden onslaught, she glared up at Angel from where she sat in the low water of the river. "Release… Them…" She barely managed to say, before another cough forced its way up and through her throat._

 _Angel furrowed her eyebrows and leaned forward, a hand held up to her ear. "What? Sorry I couldn't hear what you said for all the coughing." She said and cackled again._

" _I said.." Lucy said with a much clearer voice. "RELEASE THEM! RELEASE THE SPIRITS!" The blonde yelled with a hoarse voice as she got to her feet, trying to stop them from trembling._

 _Angel just broke out laughing at that, but was soon interrupted by the only male human present. "WHERE DID YOU GET ARIES FROM?!" He growled uncharacteristically for him as he took threatening steps forward towards the Oración Seis member._

 _The white haired angel clasped her hands together and tilted her head. "What? Was that green haired bitch your girlfriend or something?" She asked. The woman quickly came to the conclusion she was right, when she saw Hibiki's furious expression and Lucy's frightened one. A wide smirk spread on her face. "Ohhh, so she was?" She asked tauntingly. "Well, the only way keys go from one master to another, of course-"_

 _Lucy, of course, realized what the other woman was about to say and feared what was about to happen. Now, seeing Hibiki's expression, she felt the likelihood of him being affected by Nirvana would be high, too high._

" _I killed her." Sorano said matter-of-factly, sending the guy a sickly sweet expression, as she both reveled in his anger and the anguish she caused him, while also feigning innocence. And, of course, it only served to tick him off further._

 _Hibiki just looked at her blankly for a moment, his face not even twitching. But then, his expression burst through hundreds of emotions. He was about to jump from one side of the river to the other, so he could reach the killer of his late girlfriend, but was stopped when a form shot out from a golden flash and pinned him down to the ground again._

 _Lucy only barely managed to catch sight of the ginger top of hair, which she had not summoned. "Loke!?" She asked confusedly, seeing her Lion Spirit._

 _Said Lion looked back over his shoulder to reassure his princess he had Hibiki under control. But then he saw a copy of her, holding Caelum in her hands. Pointed at the original. "LUCY!" He yelled, not even using her nickname._

 _Lucy turned her head and came face to face with the point of the gun-like Caelum, held by none other than herself. Behind her copy she saw Angel smirking evilly. Had that woman summoned Gemini again? They couldn't take any more since the last hit! "Ready to meet your end, Blondie?" The other Celestial mage asked gleefully, entirely satisfied with herself._

 _The blonde glanced from her own copy and to Angel. "Don't force them to do this, Angel. They deserve much better." She told the other woman, her voice still affected by her recent drink. "They don't deserve to be used like this!" She said, her gaze flickering to her copy's surprised face, before returning to Angel's new scowl. "They're also people!" She tried to convince the other woman._

 _Angel crossed her arms, looking down at Lucy with annoyance clear in her eyes. "If that really was the truth, then why is it they never die? Why is it they obey my every command whether they like it or not? Why is it the only way they can die is if they walk around among us on Earth for extended periods of time? Why is it we can summon them?" The woman asked her._

 _Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the other woman. "You already know Earthland isn't the only place in the universe with living, breathing people." She said, crossing her arms unsteadily. "Think of Earth, weren't they people too?" She asked, knowing the woman was at least her age, probably older._

 _This earned Lucy a confused look. "Earth? What are you talking about, Blondie? Been hallucinating again?" She asked her, sounding like she thought the blonde was thoroughly stupid._

 _Now, Lucy was the one to be confused. Surely she must have had found out by now that the other place she would visit whenever she was knocked out or slept was Earth? Somehow, she must have, even if she didn't get any help from her Spirits._

 _Lucy saw from the corner of her eyes, the copy of herself casting its gaze to the ground. "I'm afraid the Spirit King has not deemed out mistress ready for Earth as of yet." Her own voice whispered to her. "Until she has recognized us as more than just tools, she will not be able to go to Earth."_

 _The blonde's eyes widened a little. She didn't know that law existed?! But it made sense. If the summoner didn't even recognize the Spirits as people, why would they the earthlings? And if they were ever to tread the grounds on Earth, how much havoc would they cause? It'd be the kind the earthlings would not be able to control for the life of them. Literally._

 _Lucy breathed out lightly and sent herself a little smile. "I see." She said. "Thank you for telling me, Gemini." She thanked the Spirit._

" _GEMINI!" Angel screeched. "Stop talking to the blonde bimbo! Kill her!" She ordered her Spirit, gesturing to the silver Spirit currently in the form of a gun, which was humming for one reason or another._

 _Lucy let her eyelids fall over her eyes casting her sight into blackness. With the realization neither she nor Loke would be able to move in time if Gemini did as Angel said, and as such simply just prepared for the worst. She faintly noticed Loke spring to his feet just before closing her eyes, although he would also know no matter what, it'd be too late._

" _I'm sorry…" Gemini muttered. Lucy heard the rustling of water from the person in front of her. "I can't do it." The Spirit said, making Lucy shoot her eyes open again, as she looked up at the back of her copy surprised with the Spirit's disobedience. "She cares for us! She really does! I can't do it…" Gemini admitted before placing Caelum on the ground and poofing back into its two small bodies._

 _Angel narrowed her eyes at her Spirit. "Are you defying me, Gemi, Mini?" She asked her two Spirits with as much venom lacing her voice as there possibly could._

 _One of the two Spirits crossed its arms and nodded. "Yes, we will not harm this girl." It said determinedly, almost making Lucy's eyes water at the thought. They were opponents, enemies actually, yet they stood up for her like that._

 _The other one also nodded. "She is a kind Celestial mage, she loves us, even though she doesn't know us." It added._

 _Angel more or less fumed where she stood and quickly raised her hand towards her Spirits. "Forced Gate Closure!" She snarled, not even waiting for the two to pop out of existence before picking up her last remaining Spirit and pointing at Lucy with it herself. "You're going down, you_ bitch _!" She told Lucy in her high pitched voice. "You won't ever see your_ precious _Spirits again!" She told her, putting an extra load of sarcasm into 'precious'._

 _Lucy glanced down at Caelum, to see it buzzing in Angel's hands in what Lucy recognized to be resistance. "Sorano!" She called. "Don't do it!" She hadn't even thought about using the woman's real name._

 _Unfortunately, it wasn't the right move. "YOU BLONDE BITCH! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" She asked her furiously. "I DON'T EVEN CARE,_ DIE _!" She screeched and loaded Caelum with her magic._

 _Lucy watched paralyzed by her own fear as the silver Spirit glowed in the golden light, ready to be fired. She heard Loke yell for her to move, but her limbs didn't respond to her brain's warning signals. The adrenaline pumped in her body, but nevertheless it didn't help her lack of movement._

" _DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Angel yelled as she finally fired the blast she had been collecting in Caelum. In the last moment, Caelum buzzed so much it shook, and due to that, Angel only barely missed, simply gracing Lucy's bare arm and leaving a flesh-wound there._

 _While her opponent swore and cursed at her narrow miss, Lucy fell to her knees, feeling any and all kind of energy leaving her body from her latest adrenaline-body. Finally, she felt the depletion in her magic. She had summoned three golden Spirits, Sagittarius, Virgo and Aquarius, one after another without a break, and now even Loke was out and about._

 _She barely registered the rustling of the water behind her, before she felt a pair of strong hands snaking around her throat roughly, but not enough to hurt. She glanced back at the owner, too tired to move from her spot in the middle of the water. "Hibiki…" She muttered. Had he really fallen to the dark side of Nirvana? And why wasn't Loke reacting..?_

 _She felt him lean in close as Angel cackled evilly somewhere in front of her. "Lucy-chan, this will help you." He reassured her. She felt a sudden burst in her magic and mind and then everything went black._

 **Back at present time, on Earth~**

And that was where her memory ended.

What had happened? Was Hibiki turned dark through Nirvana's influence? Had she only survived because she came here as soon as she passed out from whatever Hibiki did to her? Was he and Angel working together to kill the rest of her teammates? What was going on back at Earthland…?

With too much effort, Lucy threw her arms around her legs and dropped her forehead down on her knees, feeling the strain in her body from doing that simple task. It was the kind of strain that came only because she had been so drained of magic. She could hardly even move.

Wait… Happy had been at the scene… What had happened to him?! If Hibiki and Angel both were against the blue cat, he stood no chance! And what about Wendy and Carla? Did they escape safely? Natsu, did he actually manage to get past Angel, or wasn't she kidding when she had said he was no fun?

For all she knew… They could all be dead when she returned. Or worse, under Nirvana's control.

Oración Seis could have completed their mission successfully and gotten rid of every single light guild with a simple blast of Nirvana.

When she returned… Perhaps Fairy Tail would hunt her down, try and aim to kill her, just as Hibiki had explained. She would not have the heart to hurt them. Even under Nirvana's control, they would still be the people she knew and loved. But they would not think that. They would kill her. Without mercy. She would… Die.

No, there was one way she could save herself. There was one solution, in which she wouldn't have to see her friend's and family's angry expressions. She wouldn't have to experience them having turned dark. She wouldn't have to return to a dark world she could not recognize. There was one way she could spare herself all the pain and suffering. One way she could save her own life. "I could wish to stay here…" She murmured to herself.

"NO! _Never_ do that!" She heard a voice yell firmly, jolting her out of her thoughts, to see Kozo standing at the entrance to the gym. He quickly took long strides to reach her and gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Lucy, do not wish that unless you're completely certain that is what you truly want." He warned her.

Lucy looked at him, her built-up tears finally falling from her eyes. "Kozo…" His thoughtfulness touched her heart and cleared her thoughts. However little.

Kozo quickly did a one-over at the blonde's injuries and tattered clothes. And the low feel of her magic, much lower than what it usually was. There was no doubt she had just been in a battle. And the team couldn't see her like this. "Lucy, come with me, I'll take care of your injuries and hear your story." He said as he helped the weak blonde up in a standing position. "But it can't be here." He said.

Lucy didn't even offer any resistance as she simply received the much needed help from the elder man, as he threw one of her arms around his shoulders, helping her walk. They both fought to get out of the gym. Lucy praised herself lucky classes seemed to be ongoing at this point in time, no one would see her as weak as she was right now.

She let her head drop, it was simply too heavy to hold up for her. Her body felt so, so drained, it was exhausting just to breathe.

She faintly heard a weird clicking noise, then that of something metal being opened, before she was dropped on a seat, and that metal thing being closed again. She leaned back where she sat as she heard the same metal sound from the other side and saw Kozo sit down next to her.

She had absolutely no idea what kind of box she was sitting in, but she couldn't care less, it had comfortable seats and she appreciated that more than life right at that moment.

A loud rumbling sound filled the metal box she and Kozo sat in, before it began moving, much to Lucy's surprise it was kind of similar to the movements of a Lacrima vehicle in Earthland. She pieced two and two together and figured it was a car she was sitting in.

She turned her head to Kozo, who was keeping his gaze on the road in front of him. "Kozo… Where are you taking me?" She asked him.

Kozo glanced back at her, before once again letting his gaze rest on the traffic through the front window. "I'm taking you to my home." He stated.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Your home?" She asked. "Why?" Surely they'd have some bandages at the school infirmary. Yes, she had done her research. Was it so that they could talk?

The old man smiled, but he didn't look at her. "Well, so we could talk of course." He said matter-of-factly. His smile widened so much his eyes almost closed. "And because my wife has been wishing to meet you ever since I mentioned you back at home." He said.

Lucy watched something flash over his face in a fraction of a second, before disappearing out of existence before she could figure out what it could be. Deciding to think about it at a point in time, where she would have more energy to do so, she turned her head to watch the approaching and passing nature. "Does she know that I'm from…" She trailed off, knowing Kozo would know what she meant.

She saw him nod from the corner of her peripheral. "Yeah, she knows you're from Earthland, if that is what you mean." He said. "She's been really excited to meet you, Lucy." He told her.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I'm looking forward to meeting her too." She told him. It would be exciting meeting the person who made Kozo want to stay here on Earth.

For a moment silence filled the little, rolling box they were sitting in. She saw him glancing at her, before hearing his grip tighten a little on the wheel. "Do you… Want to talk about what happened before you came here? It'll still be a while before we're there." He said, his tension transparent in the way he was sitting stiffly. But it didn't seem to come from the question he asked or the answer he expected.

Lucy leaned back in her seat, her head gently bumping on the backrest of her seat. "I guess…" She trailed off, forcing down the tears which threatened to build up once again. "We… Well, maybe I should start from the beginning." She realized. "The Magic Council ordered four of the strongest, I think, light guilds to form an alliance of sorts to take down Oración Seis, one of the four strongest dark guilds, because they recently have been drawing some suspicion." She explained as if reading up from a book.

Kozo glanced back at her, a little smile present on his face. "Ahh, yes. You're in a guild, aren't you?" He asked her. "I believe I still haven't asked which." He said.

Lucy smiled in return and nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I've told you yet." She agreed. "I'm in Fairy Tail." She told him, raising the hand holding her guild mark, although she knew he wouldn't see it while he was driving.

The older man's eyes widened a little. "The strongest guild in Fiore?" He asked her. Then some things certainly made sense. Compared to her other teammates, who were sure to be strong, since they were from the strongest guild, she was certain to feel weak with the transformation and whatnot. And was it Oración Seis they were against? If he remembered correctly, it had been many years after all, they were part of the dark guilds' alliance, Balam Alliance, as one of those holding the power. That was a strong enemy.

Lucy nodded, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Yeah, that's what they say." She confirmed for him.

Kozo sighed internally and nodded. The blonde probably had it tougher than most Celestial mages, it seemed. "Please, continue your story, Lucy." He said.

Lucy actually sighed out loud. "Okay, so four guilds - Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter - were to send out a few of their members so the different delegations could work together to take down the six members of Oración Seis and get the situation under control as well as sharing information about what their goal was." She said and closed her eyes. "Oración Seis are after Nirvana, a legendary magical item which can convert people from light to dark and the other way around." She said, continuing despite Kozo's surprised gasp. "They probably plan on using it on all the light guilds to turn them dark, so they can destroy each other." She told him.

"That's… Horrible." Kozo admitted. Sure, he didn't live on Earthland anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't worry for his friends and the remaining family he still had there. He never had the chance to hear what happened back there any longer, and he had gotten used to that. But now, hearing that his friends and family could be in danger and knowing he could do nothing to help them, it was a strange feeling, but unfortunately not in a positive way.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, it is. Just thinking about the things, the destruction, they could cause if they succeed their mission…" She trailed off, searching for the right word for a moment. "It's terrifying." She said.

And that was what she might return to. Destruction. Havoc. Chaos. Worst case… Death. Whether her own or her friends'.

"After sharing and getting all the information needed, everyone went to prepare our plan." She said. Well, more or less anyway. "And that was when we had our first run-in with those six." She explained. "Nearly without any effort at all, they took us all out and then kidnapped the single member Cait Shelter had sent." Without giving Kozo any time to ask any questions, she just continued. "They revived a guy my team and I had previously beaten and thought was dead. He had infiltrated the Magic Council, being a member of said Council and had plotted to resurrect Zeref, the ancient, darkest mage of all. And of course, he is strong, previously one of the 10 great Wizard Saints, actually. And now he is revived and helping Oración Seis." She said with a long sigh. So many things happened, it was hard to find heads and tails in it, even for her. And she had been a part of it all. "Anyway, Natsu, one of my teammates, managed to save Wendy and survive getting away from Oración Seis and that other guy. Then he found back to me, our poisoned teammate, which was caused by a member of the Oración Seis, and this guy from Blue Pegasus, where he put Wendy down, so she could heal Erza. That was when we were explained everything and then suddenly Nirvana was turned on and Natsu charged towards it. Erza heard some of our conversation and since she is childhood friends with Jellal, she also just disappeared. Then Wendy, Hibiki, Happy, Carla and I began chasing Natsu, but we bumped into Angel of Oración Seis. Turns out she is a Celestial mage and has Gemini, so if she lets Gemini turn into me, she can summon and control my Spirits, whether I summon them or not. Carla quickly fled with Wendy, but Hibiki and Happy refused to. But Hibiki isn't the fighting type, so I had to take her on. And first I asked Grandpa Crux who she had, but first after knocking Gemini out with the help of Hibiki. She also had Scorpio, Aries and Caelum. So, having researched the Spirits earlier, I knew Aquarius and Scorpio are together and that Aries and Loke are close friends, so I couldn't summon either until the counterpart was beaten. Instead, when Angel summoned Scorpio I summoned Virgo and while the Spirits fought I did my best to fight Angel. But then a domino-effect happened, where Angel gave me a punch, Virgo attacked Angel and Scorpio attacked Virgo with enough force to send her back, and Hibiki shot some of his magic at Scorpio and dispelled him too. Then I summoned Aquarius because Scorpio was beaten, and she is my strongest Spirit, and she summoned Aries AND Caelum and shot the both of them, through Aries and hitting Aquarius. Then Hibiki found out his late girlfriend was killed by Angel and I worried because of Nirvana, but didn't have the time, as Angel now summoned Gemini to copy me again, holding Caelum pointed at me. But Gemini couldn't shoot and when Angel sent them back and tried herself, Caelum made sure it missed. But then, suddenly, Hibiki came up from behind of me and began gripping my throat, saying something about it helping me or something. And then I blacked out!" She finally ended. She knew she had rambled, but once the dam broke, everything just came out like an unstoppable flood. She had talked so much she even had trouble breathing, and she panted as she finished it off. "That's all I remember before ending up back at the gym where you found me." She breathed out whilst fighting down the tears which threatened to fall.

Kozo remained silent for a moment, probably contemplating and trying to process what she said. "I assume this… 'Hibiki' has fallen to the power of Nirvana?" He asked the blonde, glancing at her. While he only had understood about half of what she had been talking about, he had been surprised to hear her explain how the opponent Spirits actually refused to attack her, he had never heard of such thing before. But if he had to be cruelly honest, he wasn't surprised it was her of all people, who managed such a feat.

Lucy cast her gaze down on her hands and nodded. "Yes, I believe so." She agreed. "But I don't understand… Loke appeared, but he didn't even move to help me…" She trailed off.

"Hmm." Was the simple reply she got from the other man.

Lucy watched as her hands began trembling slightly and tangled her fingers with each other in the hopes of it easing it a little. "I… I'm just afraid." She said in a voice only just above a whisper.

Kozo glanced at her for as long as he dared, before turning back to his driving. "Afraid? Of what?" He asked her gently, his voice as soft and comforting as a grandfather's.

Lucy clenched her eyes shut, feeling the car turn a final time before pulling to a stop, the two having reached their destination. "Of what I might return to." She confessed. She opened her eyes to see Kozo having turned towards her in his seat, giving her his full attention. "Wh-what if Oración Seis have won? What if they have control of Nirvana and have turned all light guilds dark? What if… What if they have converted Fairy Tail? My family? My friends? What will I do if they turn against me? Try to kill me?" She kept asking without pause. "I can't fight them, Kozo. I can't hurt them." She told him, hiding her face in her hands. "What will I do?" She asked him. "I don't want to die… And to prevent that, there is only-"

Kozo cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking his head gently. "No, don't wish for this until you are one hundred percent certain." He half scolded her. "Don't make rash decisions until you have found out whether returning to Earthland and your friends truly is as dangerous as you think." He sent her a little smile. "Believe in your family, Lucy. They're not from the strongest guild in all of Fiore without reason." He reminded her.

Lucy considered his words for a moment. He was right. Her team was strong, the strongest in the guild now Laxus wasn't around any longer. They didn't just go down like that, not without a fight. Actually, her team simply didn't go down at all, they just weren't the types.

The blonde sent her fellow Earthlander a bright smile. "Thank you so much, Kozo!" She smiled at him. "To be real sappy now, I had lost faith in my team, but you brought it back. Thank you so much for saving me!" She told him, a whole other kind of tears forming at her eyes. Although these she did not fight.

Kozo smiled back at her, more amused at the irony than anything. "You're welcome Lucy." He said pleasantly.

Lucy didn't give him any chance to continue as he wished to do, but instead took notice of them not moving. "Say, are we at your home?" She asked before almost jumping out of the car, to take a look at his home.

Back in the car, he shook his head at the blonde. "It is not me who saved you, Lucy 'Heartfilia'." He said in a whisper, stressing her last name lightly in sarcasm. "It is you, who has saved me." He said, before also stepping out of the car after her.

 **Well, well, well. What'a'ya know, huh?  
Thinking of it, aren't I leaving this on a double cliffhanger? Both the one leaving what happened after Lucy blacked out AND now at Earth too? :3 Ahh, I'm a devil. **

**By the way, do you guys know that feeling when you're watching a dubbed anime and you have watched, say…. 50 episodes or more, as it is a longer anime, and suddenly one of the main character's voice actor just dropped out and someone else took over and you just sit there with a pouty face, not wanting to keep watching because it wouldn't be the same? I hate it~! ._."**

 **Anyway, hope you all liked it!  
Thank you to anyone who read, favorited, followed and reviewed! You make my each and every day~ **

**~Line464d**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Well, then. Let's see what will happen today, shall we?  
Thank you so, SO much, guys! We've finally reached 100 FAVORITES and 150 REVIWS!  
The honors go to IvoryGlass and Guest (who, thank you, has supported this story more or less from its beginning) Thank you to both of you, you're amazing!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: If I had owned either of these two stories, it'd go to all hell, honestly. Just look at this story XD**

 **At Kozo's~**

Lucy looked at the quaint, yet villa-sized house standing before her. It wasn't high-class like Akashi's, but still obviously more expensive than her own apartment. Although she was pretty certain they had more money than the house showed. What with him working at a school such as Teiko.

However, nonetheless the house was exactly like one of those houses, which existed in every little girl's dreams. The house in itself had a homey feeling about it, with the light brown, wooden walls, the charcoal gray roof, with the white frames around the windows and the edges of the roof. It seemed to have two stories, where the second floor was right underneath said roof, a pair of windows sticking out from it, towards the big garden in front of the house, which expanded to even behind it. The grass was a healthy green and trimmed perfectly. The entrance was lined up with thigh-high dark green bushes with big, perfect, red roses. It was trimmed so that it seemed as if it was just growing wild, yet at the same time it was obvious it was taken care of. Big trees towered up in the big garden, casting big shadows around and underneath them, the branches hung down as if the leaves were too heavy for them to carry, they almost scraped against the ground in the wind. Scattered in the garden were smaller trees with the trademark pink flowers she recognized from Earthland. Cherry trees, her favorite. It seemed they were at their full bloom at the moment. In front of the house stood a royal blue swing with a red plastic seat. The rest seemed to continue behind the house.

She turned around to smile widely at Kozo, who was currently exiting his car and closing the door behind him. "You have a really beautiful home, Kozo." She told him honestly. Before coming to Fairy Tail, she had dreamt of living in a house like this with her own family. It held no sign of whether it was high-class or not, exactly what she liked.

Kozo returned the smile. "Thank you, Lucy. I quite like it too." He admitted and began walking towards the front door. "Please come in." He said and held the white door for the blonde.

Lucy smiled at the much too rare display of manners. "Thank you." She said and entered the house, hearing him enter after her. She smiled as she looked around, seeing that the interior furniture had the same feeling as the exterior, all being of various different kinds of wood in different shades of brown. The chairs, the table, the disks, the floor, the walls, stairs, everything except the things which could not be. Such as the fridge, couch, lamps and the family-pictures hanging on the walls. They all mostly displayed three people, Kozo, both in his younger days and not, a woman of the same age as Kozo in the pictures, and a little boy in the older pictures, and the same person grown up in newer pictures. Once in a while, a man who looked a little like the woman also appeared on some of the pictures. One thing she noted, though… Some of the pictures seemed to be cut off.

She didn't get a chance to ask as hurried footsteps approached, clacking lightly on the wooden floor. "Kozo-chan? Is that you?" A light female voice asked as the lady from the picture turned the corner. "Aren't you home earl- Oh! You must be Lucy!" The woman said and quickly went to Lucy. She had long, black hair, not even a strand of gray hair was present, and dark eyes filled with gentleness yet also eager happiness.

Lucy couldn't do anything but return the smile sent her way. "Yeah, that's me." She confirmed. Whether that was a mistake or not, well sometimes she wondered.

The woman, whose name Lucy still had not learned, pounced on the blonde, almost suffocating her in the surprise embrace. "Ohh, it's such a pleasure to finally meet you!" She exclaimed, only tightening her already too tight grip around the blonde. "Kozo-chan has told me so much about you!" She told her, smothering her even more. If the circumstances weren't as they were, Lucy would have laughed at the nickname.

Only now did Lucy's body remember the battle she had gone through not long ago. And the tight squeeze didn't help ease the pain at all. "Y-yeah, I've been looking forward to see you too, Shirogane-san." She almost hissed out through her lacking breath.

Lucy barely saw Kozo shaking his head from the corner of her eye. "Hina-dear, she can't breathe." He told his wife.

The woman released the blonde and instead pushed her back by the shoulder, smiling widely at her. "Ah, sorry dear." She apologized to the blonde. Then her eyebrows did the classic worried-mother furrow her mother, Layla, had often used every time she hurt herself playing in the garden of the Konzern. The expression was like a copy of her mother's, she almost made one think they had been related. "Come on, sweetie, let's get you fixed up." She half ordered the younger girl, dragging her off towards one of the rooms.

Lucy sent Kozo a look beckoning for help and mercy. In response the man just closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. There was just no fighting this woman.

She let herself be dragged by Kozo's wife and semi-gently be pushed down on the dark brown-leathered couch, before the woman dashed off, probably going to search for something to clean her wounds, if the look she had been giving was anything to judge by.

Kozo strolled in and sat down in one of the similar designed armchairs and crossed one leg over the other, facing Lucy across the low mahogany table. "She is very forceful by nature, I'm afraid…" He trailed off.

Lucy laughed and shook her head. "No, it's all right." She reassured him with a wave of her hand. Underlying that sentence was the 'I've tried worse before'.

Their conversation couldn't proceed, as the black haired woman reappeared in the room, carrying a set of clothes over her arm and the familiar white box with the red cross. "This may hurt, dear." She warned Lucy, when she sat on the couch next to the blonde and wringed a soaked rag.

Without giving the blonde girl any time to reply, the Shirogane wife pressed the rag to one of Lucy's recent wound, and not even lightening the press when she hissed in pain, not even attempting to let her think she did. "What's in this, Shirogane-san?" Lucy tried to say without sounding as if she was snarling.

The woman gave her a brief smile before continuing to another wound. "Just call me Hinata, sweetie." She told the blonde, who gave a curt nod in answer. "The stinging you feel is caused by alcohol. It hurts, but it cleans." She said, once again moving to another wound.

Lucy nodded. She wasn't sure whether Mira already knew of this trick, and if she didn't, Lucy would be sure to bring it to her… Probably.

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows as she kept cleaning the girl's injuries. Her frown turned into a smile, as she glanced back at her husband. "Brings back memories, doesn't it, Kozo-chan?" She asked him, sending him a knowing gaze.

Kozo laughed a deep, hearty laugh and nodded. "Oh, yes it does, Hina-dear." He agreed as he wiped a stray tear of joy from his eye.

The blonde looked at her two elders confusedly, their conversation skipping right over her head. "What are you two talking about?" She asked them curiously.

Hinata gave her a big, wide smile. "Back in our young days, Kozo-chan would often appear just as you have today. Bruised and battered." She said and put the rag down. "I often had to take care of him just as I am you." She said with a laugh. "I only need to bandage you, then you can change into these clothes." She said and tapped the clothes she had brought.

Lucy smiled. "Thank you, Hinata." She said and watched as the black haired woman pulled out a roll of bandages and gently began wrapping her small wounds.

"It's no problem at all, dear!" She reassured her. "I have become quite deft with these tools over the years." She said with a laugh. "A certain someone always decided to hide with me, after all." The woman said and sent her husband a knowing look, which didn't go completely unnoticed by the blonde.

Kozo sighed and nodded. "Yes, that is true." He said and looked directly at his fellow Earthlander. "As for you, Lucy. You too will need a place to stay in occasions such as this." He said, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes. "It would after all be troubling should anyone who does not know of your situation discover you in a beat-up state."

His wife tightened a bandage around Lucy's arm, before sighing in exasperation. "Oh you always have such roundabout ways of explaining things, Kozo-chan!" She said and looked to Lucy. "His point is whenever you find yourself in a 'beat-up state', you can always stay here, either till you go back to your own world or till you decide it is all right to show yourself again." She offered her.

The gray haired man nodded in agreement. "Yes, we will always have a first aid kit and spare clothes ready should you need it." He added.

Lucy smiled at the two of them brightly. "Thank you, both of you! I really appreciate your generosity." She said and bowed her head at them. "I'll be sure to train hard, so I can summon my Spirits and not rely on you guys all the time." She said with the smile still wide.

"Ahh, yes. You had the Maiden Spirit, Virgo did you not?" He asked rhetorically. Nonetheless, Lucy nodded. "While I am certain she can assist you with addressing your injuries, I am afraid the clothes from the Celestial World are a tad too… Unique for Earth." He said with a little smile.

The blonde's face fell quickly. "Oh… I see." She said. Perhaps he was right. The Celestial World's clothes were quite eccentric, and… Well… Perhaps it wasn't as common with the more unique clothing on Earth as it sometimes seemed to be on Earthland.

Hinata shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry, sweetie, as Kozo-chan said, we'll always have spare clothes lying in wait for you." She reassured the younger blonde.

Kozo lifted a finger, drawing attention to himself. "Before I forget it, you can, of course, also stay here in case you remain on Earth for an extended period of time." He offered.

The woman nodded almost sternly. "Of course, consider this your second home." She more or less ordered Lucy.

Lucy smiled and had to, for the umpteenth time that day, fight down tears at the old couple's generosity. It really bordered too much for what she could possibly accept.

Hinata wrapped the last round around her leg in bandages, before cutting it off and fastening it, giving her limb a gentle, little pat. "There, all done." She declared, handing the blonde the clothes resting on the armrest. "Here, you can wear this. The bathroom is the first door at the right, you can change in there." She said, gesturing to a door at an opening at their left, leading to a hallway. "You can just leave the clothes you're wearing now in there, I'll do what I can to fix it." She promised the blonde.

Lucy turned to look at her. "You really don't have to fix these clothes." She told her, looking at her shredded and frayed clothes. "It isn't my first, and it won't be the last set of clothes I'll lose." She reassured them with a laugh and a smile.

The woman quickly raised a single finger and shook it in disapproval. "That may be, but I might be able to save those clothes, and thus save you some money. I don't care if your father is the wealthiest man in all of Fiore, saving money is always a good idea." She said firmly.

Lucy giggled at the irony of the woman's unreal guessing-skills and shook her head lightly. The worst part about it all was that those were more or less the precise words her father had used time and time again when he taught her the importance of saving money. "All right, all right." She relented with a grin. You will be right and I will have peace, wasn't that what they said?

With a last nudge from Hinata, Lucy went to the bathroom they had pointed her to. It was a simple, white-tiled bathroom with a red, fuzzy carpet, red soap-holder and towel. Anything else in the room was more or less white.

Lucy put the neatly folded clothes on the closed toilet and began undressing quickly and pulling the new clothes on. The clothes weren't exactly something she would have chosen herself, but they actually weren't bad at all. She wore a crimson scarlet crop-top, fitting tightly right until they reached her elbows. From there, the sleeves loosened till something alike wizard's sleeves. She also wore blue jeans, fitting well in color with the crimson red crop top and the lightly worn color. Just like with the top, the jeans fit tightly till around the knees, where they flared our, not too much, but still enough for it to be visible. She hefted her belt with the whip and her keys around her hips, completing the set.

She picked up the clothes she had previously been wearing and folded them over her arms as she exited the white room and reentered the living room, in which the couple was still sitting. She stepped a little heavier, realizing she had appeared while they were in the middle of what seemed like quite a serious conversation, if their facial expressions and the general atmosphere were anything to go by.

They looked up as she entered, their frowns literally turning upside down. "Oh, Lucy! You look wonderful in those clothes!" Hinata told her, clasping her hands together and resting it against her cheek.

Lucy smiled and did a pirouette. "Thank you!" She said, stopping her spinning to face the both of them with a bright smile. "Where did you get these clothes? They're wonderful!" She told them.

Lucy saw the two of them exchanging gazes similar to the ones they had when she had entered the living room. "Those clothes, they belonged to…" Kozo trailed off.

Hinata was quick to pick up his lost thread though. "They belonged to me in my younger days." She told with a weird tone Lucy couldn't quite place. "Your memory isn't what it has been, Kozo-chan."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows a little, feeling they weren't quite telling the truth, but also feeling that it was a sore topic for them. She quickly covered it with one of her infamous smiles. "You have great taste in clothes, Hina-" She was cut off as the familiar dizziness following her change from one world to another and she fell to the floor suddenly, her energy leaving her in an instant.

She could hear a rather feminine laugh and figured it must be Hinata's. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Lucy-chan. I hope to see you soon again!" She heard her say faintly.

She tried to stay conscious just a moment longer, her fear of returning once again clawing at her mind in a desperate action of panic. "Believe in your friends, Lucy." She heard from somewhere far away, before her world turned a complete, terrifying black.

 **Back at Earthland~**

"I see…" Hibiki said, his arms crossed as he leaned against the trunk of a tree, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I've never thought parallel worlds even existed, much less that one could travel between them like that." He commented.

Loke shrugged. "Well, this test has existed for hundreds of years. We just don't speak much of it." He admitted.

The Pegasus furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, if that is true, then why is it this never happened to Karen?" He asked him, narrowing his eyes at the Lion Spirit when he was about to respond with a snide remark.

Loke sighed and sent Hibiki apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry to say this, Hibiki, and don't take it the wrong way, but that is because the Spirit King deemed her unfit to surround herself with the earthlings." He said, slowing down as he spoke.

Hibiki looked at Loke with a raised eyebrow, challenging him to say what he left unsaid. "Just say it already, Leo." He urged the Spirit and former - partly - guild mate.

The Lion reached up and scratched the roots of his mane. "She… Wasn't kind enough." He said carefully, preparing for the rage that was sure to come from the honey-blond.

And right as he was, Hibiki didn't even try to conceal the anger emanating from him as his grip around his own arms tightened. "How the hell can you say something like that about a former summoner of yours?!" He almost growled at him.

Loke sent Hibiki a gaze as intense as the one he was receiving. "Especially because of that, I can say it with one hundred percent certainty." He shot back.

This made the Pegasus stop in his tracks. "What do you mean? Explain." He ordered the other guy, annoyed the Lion thought he knew more about Hibiki's girlfriend than he did himself.

Loke sighed and crossed his arms as well. "Karen may very well have been the sweetest, little flower to you but it would seem you paid no notice to how she treated Aries and I." He said, remembering just how it had been.

The only sign Hibiki was listening was his eyebrows moving upwards and his eyes widening. "Don't tell me…" His gaze briefly shot to the unconscious woman lying a little away from the two.

The Spirit followed the Pegasus' gaze and nodded slightly. "Yes, I'm afraid she was towards Spirits as Angel is." He admitted, frowning just a little when he saw the other guy's expression drop. "It could potentially be dangerous if someone like Angel was sent to Earth and decided they did not like the magic-less humans." He said.

Hibiki looked at Loke with furrowed eyebrows. "Well, that may be true. But how would they summon their Spirits there at all? You said there was no magic on Earth _and_ that during this transformation they would be much weaker." He reasoned with the other guy.

One corner of Loke's mouth turned upwards. This guy was almost as sharp as his Princess. "Yep, but with some harsh training, they can also summon Spirits there." He said. "But it really needs harsh training, most doesn't accomplish it even if they try, as it also needs to be kept secret from most. So no, you're right that isn't what would cause most problems." He admitted with a shrug. "However here on Earthland mages are used to fighting often, and many of us has more than one magic to work with as well as some hand to hand combat too." Loke looked at Hibiki with yet another fairly intense expression.

Hibiki sighed and nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned back on the tree trunk again, releasing the tension which had built up with his anger. "I see your point, Leo." He relented.

They both shot up when they heard a splash of water and then the spluttering of a person having inhaled water like air. "Princess!" Loke exclaimed before wading into the water and helping his blonde mistress up and out of the water.

Lucy looked up at the one helping her out. "Loke." She stated, giving her Spirit a smile of gratitude. "Thank you." She mumbled as Loke more or less dragged her up on land and let her sit on the ground to recover.

She felt his hand on her shoulder through her now soaked clothes. "Are you feeling all right, Lucy?" He asked her concernedly.

The blonde nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm feeling fine." She said and waved dismissively with her hand. "Say, how long was I out?" She asked him.

However the answer didn't come from the one she expected. "Around ten minutes, I'd say." She heard a familiar voice say behind her.

Lucy whirled around and to her feet, staring right at the person who had startled her. "Hibiki!" She exclaimed frightened. But then she saw the look in his eyes. There was no way eyes like that could belong to someone affected by Nirvana. A relieved smile spread on her face as she pounced off the ground and surprised the Pegasus by catching him in a hug. "You're all right!" She said, feeling her waterworks trembling again. Honestly, she had been like a dam waiting to break these days.

Although he hesitated for a moment, Hibiki didn't let up on the perfect opportunity to hold a girl in his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked her.

Much to his dismay, Lucy pushed back and looked up at him with a tender smile. "Well… I was afraid you had.. You know… Fallen to Nirvana." She said, her voice lowering to a mumble as she spoke. "And everyone with you." She added, even lower in volume than before.

Loke, knowing his mistress and how she tended to overthink things, frowned. "How long were you at Earth?" He asked her. Seeing the gaze she sent him and her little gesture towards the Pegasus, he smirked. "He knows." He simply told her.

The blonde glanced up at the guy, who wore a similar smirk to that of the Lion's. "Well, with you disappearing like that, he really had no other choice." He said with a little shrug.

Lucy scratched the back of her head and giggled. "Yeah, I guess he didn't." She admitted. She heard her Lion Spirit clearing his throat and she nodded, remembering his question. "I'm not exactly sure how long I stayed there…" She said, remembering the long flashback she had remembered on the benches, wondering how much time actually passed while she remembered all that. "A pair of hours, maybe more." She said. Then realizing something was missing, she looked around a little, but didn't find what she was looking for. "What happened to Happy? And… Angel?!" She asked, already worrying over her little, blue cat-friend.

Loke chuckled and threw one of his arms around the blonde's shoulders. "No need to worry, Princess." He reassured her. "Happy left a while ago to search for Natsu, and Angel is knocked out right there." He said and gestured to the human lump on the ground by the river.

She leaned back to look past him, and saw that Angel was indeed lying on the ground unconscious. "Oh, guys! You beat her?" She asked them ecstatically. Taking in her very roughed up appearance, the answer was quite clear. However, as she looked back to them, she saw them looking at her weirdly. She tilted her head a little. "What?" She asked confusedly.

The Spirit turned to her and held her by her shoulders, looking directly at her, which only confused her more. "Are you telling me you remember nothing of the battle?" He asked her.

Lucy shook her head. "I remember everything up until when Hibiki…" Without thinking about it, she reached up and rubbed her throat. "Then everything turned black and I went to Earth. What more could I possibly remember?" She asked him worriedly.

"When you beat Angel yourself, for instance?" Hibiki suggested with a raised eyebrow.

If Lucy had had any less self-control than she did, her jaw would have dropped to the floor. For now, it was just left her mouth wide open. "What…?!" She asked them incredulously. "But how could I?! I passed out before she was beaten!" She reasoned.

Loke shook his head. "No, that's just when your memory stops, you beat Angel after that." He explained. His expression transformed into a wide smile. "And you did it beautifully." He added.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "But… But how? I had no magic left." She asked them, her gaze shifting from one to the other. "I was running on fumes back there." She told them.

Hibiki shook her head. "Well, apparently you were not." He said. Seeing Lucy's expression, he was urged to explain further. "When I grabbed you after Angel fired that cannon-"

"Caelum." Lucy reminded him.

"Yes, Caelum." He corrected himself, knowing how fond the girl was of her Spirits. "I uploaded a Celestial spell to your mind, under the cover of being taken over by Nirvana." He told her. "I think perhaps that is why you lost your memory." He added thoughtfully.

Lucy looked at him confusedly. "A spell?" She couldn't remember any spells or anything.

Loke nodded. "Yes, it's called Urano Metria. Ring a bell?" He asked her.

She nodded slowly. It did ring a bell, but only a very little one though. She looked through her memory, anything about spells she could possibly find. But found nothing. Right as she was about to give up, an incantation filtered into her mind. "Survey the Heavens, open the Heavens…" She mumbled, opening her eyes and faintly noticing the guys' attention on her. "All the stars, far and wide…" She continued. "Show me thy appearance…" As she spoke, even more words just appeared in her mind. "With such shine, oh Tetrabiblos… I am the ruler of the stars…" She hadn't ever actually heard these words before, so saying she was confused was an understatement. "Aspect become complete… Open thy malevolent gate." She furrowed her eyebrows, the last words fogging a little in her head. "Oh, 88 Stars of the Heaven, shine... Urano Metria." She ended it, feeling her magic rumble in response to the incantation.

"Yeah, that was exactly what you said when you cast the spell." Hibiki stated, pushing her out of her little trance. "It's a very powerful spell, but it also takes a lot of magic. When I uploaded it to you, I wasn't even sure you could do the spell, your magic was low after all, but you pulled through against all odds and blasted our Oración Seis friend here." He said, once again gesturing to Angel.

Suddenly the rustling of leaves drew their attention. They looked up to see the pink-haired mage of Lamia Scale. "Sherry!" Lucy said and took steps towards the other mage. "I'm so happy you're all right!" She told the pink-haired mage.

Sherry's expression twisted into a smirk which seemed uncharacteristic to the girl. "I've found… A mage from Fairy Tail." She said, spreading her arms out. On both of her sides, titan hands of wood rose from the ground as if it itself was alive. However, since Lucy had faced her before, she knew it was all the cackling girl's doing. She was under Nirvana's control!

Out of nowhere, another body dashed out of the bushes and locked its arm around Sherry's throat, forcing the both of them on the ground, Sherry on the bottom. That's when Lucy recognized the bare torso, black hair and black pants. "Gray!"

Gray glanced up at her, Loke and Hibiki. "You guys all right?" He asked them, using his own weight to keep down the thrashing girl.

"LET GO OG ME! DAMMIT! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!" She screamed at him, her thrashing growing wilder by the second. "I'LL AVENGE LYON-SAMA!" She shrieked desperately.

Gray looked up at them again, still pinning the girl to the ground. "She… Suddenly got crazy after that weird light appeared."

Lucy nodded, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "That was Nirvana. She was under its control." Seeing Gray's confused expression, a light turned on in her head. "Oh right, you don't know…" She trailed off, smiling at him. "Nirvana turns light to dark and dark to light. At this stage, it turns those who are on the edge. Something has set her off and into darkness." She explained, getting a confirming nod from Hibiki.

And judging from Sherry's words, it would have something to do with Lyon… She just hoped it didn't mean what she thought it did. 'Avenge' was most often used for people who have died an untimely death by the hands of someone who survived.

"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" She promised Gray. "I'LL AVENGE MY LYON-SAMA!" She repeated. Suspicions confirmed… She thought Gray had killed Lyon, for whatever reason. And it was unlikely, by the way. Gray wasn't the murderer kind of person.

"Yes, we heard you before." Gray grumbled, pressing the girl down again with what looked like irritation. "You will 'avenge' your 'Lyon-sama' another day." He added.

Speaking of the devil… "Who were you saying you'd get revenge for again?" A male voice asked, also making his way out of the bushes where the other two had moments before. "Please don't just kill me off like that." Lyon said.

Gray pulled back off Sherry a little as she turned around to see the one she had wanted to avenge right in front of her. "Lyon-sama…" She whispered, her eyes wide as saucers.

The Static Ice Make mage grinned, looking back at his rival and brother. "I know you wouldn't die so easily." He said. And that was as close you got to a compliment from him as possible. Under these circumstances anyway.

Lyon shrugged. "Well, I'm not like you guys." He reasoned, sending pointed gazes at Gray and Lucy.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?" She said in the best 'blonde bimbo' voice she could muster. "I actually took out Angel, I'll have you know!" She said and jutted her finger at the unconscious, white haired girl. Her gaze brushed over the pink-haired girl, who was now crying happy tears.

The white haired boy raised eyebrow and looked at the unconscious person behind her, then back to her, Hibiki and Loke. "Sure, but you had help from those two." He reasoned. After all, he couldn't take out Racer without Gray either, and he was not about to be outdone by a girl like her.

Hibiki raised his arms by the elbow in a half shrug and closed his eyes. "Well while it is true I assisted her, my assistance was minimal. She did all the fighting." He admitted, although a little reluctantly. His pride as a man was on the line, after all. Or well was lost now.

While Lyon contemplated life and what he could possibly have done wrong with it, Gray jumped up and completely off Sherry, pulling Lucy into a tight embrace. "Ha! Now I won't listen if you say you aren't strong anymore!" He told her. The blonde smiled and returned his hug, muttering a thanks in response.

"It's what I always said, Prince- Wha?!" He ended himself mid-sentence, when he saw a bright yet dark light first surrounding Sherry, then flying off into the large pillar of light of Nirvana, joining the rest of the similar light.

Before the questions could be asked, Hibiki explained. "Sherry was possessed by Nirvana, it would seem seeing Lyon still alive sent her back to the side of light, pushing the darkness out and back to Nirvana." He explained. Although the three who had not heard the whole story looked somewhat confused, they also seemed to understand the gist of it.

Their conversation was interrupted when suddenly the ground shook as if they had been hit by an earthquake. However that was not what it was. Which was proven when suddenly strange root-like rock tubes rose from the ground. They were as thick as buildings and much longer. They rose high above the sky, arching like a spider's legs. And at the end of the spider's legs, was the rugged body.

The mages all looked at each other. Everyone knew this was Nirvana, it could be nothing other than that. Gray, Loke and Lucy all exchanged gazes, giving each other a nod, before turning to the group. "We'll go up there." Gray announced, making the move to strip his shirt off, then realizing it wasn't even there.

 **Ohh how I enjoy making you guys suffer ^_^  
Yep, you guessed it! I'm ending it off riiiiiiight **_**here**_ **.**

 **It was slight changes I've made here - such as her going to Earth - from the cannon, nothing that will change the main plot of everything, but just small tweaks. Really. I'm sorry ._."  
I had actually planned to end the Oración Seis arc in this chapter, buuuuuuuttt there are just too many things to do and write, this chapter would become impossibly long **

**Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorited and reviewed! You're amazing people!**

 **~Line44d**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **So, THIS TIME we** _ **should**_ **end the Oración Seis arc, I kind of promise!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Hiro and Tadatoshi, mah men (XD), are as stingy about their stories as Scrooge McDuck is about his special coin. **

**At Nirvana~**

Gray looked back at the blonde girl crawling up what seemed like a spider's leg, except it was pure rocks, making sure she was keeping up. To his surprise, she was keeping up perfectly fine.

She looked up at him, seeing he had stopped. "What's going on, Gray? Why did you stop?" She asked him confusedly.

Gray shook his head and continued to crawl up. "Just wonderin' if you were keeping up." He grumbled, only barely audible for the blonde. "I see Gajeel's training has done its wonders on ya." He said, sending her a smirk over his shoulders.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yes, Princess' stamina has increased beautifully under the trash can's tutelage." Loke agreed. He'd decided to follow them and support himself magically, so as to not strain his Princess.

Said Princess glared halfheartedly at her Spirit over her shoulder. "Loke, be nice." She scolded him. "Gajeel's a very nice guy once you give him a chance." She said and would have crossed her arms if she could.

Loke rolled his eyes, but smiled at her everlasting kindness and forgiveness. "Yeah, I'm sure he is. Deep, _deep_ inside." He said sarcastically.

The Ice Make mage tuned out of their conversation and looked to the leg on their right, seeing something desperately clinging on to it. He squinted is eyes, trying to see who was crawling over there. When he finally realized, a smirk born from amusement formed on his face. "Hey guys, look at the Fire Idiot over there. Can't even handle a little movement like this." He said, as their leg disconnected with the ground, moved forward, and stomped heavily at the ground, taking one large step forward, which sent small shockwaves throughout the whole thing.

Lucy and Loke's conversation was halted, and they followed the way Gray was pointing. "What? His motion-sickness even hits him here? But it isn't even a vehicle!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Must be the same for him." Loke said with a little shrug. "Wait.. What is he doing? Trying to crawl upside down?" Loke asked as he saw the blob that was the Fire Dragon Slayer just barely hanging on to the leg he was on.

The blonde shook her head, her brown eyes wide. "No! He's slipping off!" She told them. Just as she finished talking, Natsu seemed to release his grip and began falling down, unable to help himself. "NATSU!" She screamed in horror of what might happen to him.

Suddenly something shot out of the forest at lightning speed, going so fast none of them could see what it was. Whatever it was approached the pi- _salmon_ -haired Dragon Slayer at the high speed, not even slowing down once it got closer.

Lucy worried for a moment that it would attack the weakened Dragon Slayer, but her hopes were quickly lifted, when the form caught Natsu. "It's Happy! He saved him!" She said, relief filling her voice.

Gray nodded, not sparing his rival another glance, as he knew he now would be all right. "Let's continue on, we're almost at the top." He said, to which the others agreed.

Not a moment later, Natsu and Happy zoomed past them and towards the center of Nirvana, not even seeing them as he passed by. If the way his fist were lit up on flames were anything to go by, he was probably all over his sickness already.

An explosion later, Loke, Gray and Lucy had almost reached the entrance, when Natsu and Happy, followed by Cobra and his giant, winged snake began battling in the air.

Loke, realizing they might be caught in the crossfire if they stayed, urged the other two to continue. "Come on, Gray, Princess. There's no time to waste." Besides, who knew where Nirvana was headed?

He got a nod in agreement from the other two, and only a moment later, they had reached the entrance to Nirvana. However that worked. The three shared a quick glance, before entering. However, once they did, they found they had to crawl upwards. So, continuing the order they had previously advanced in, Gray went up as the first, beginning to ascend upwards.

Fortunately, the road wasn't long, and as such it took no time before Gray broke through and pulled himself up to stand. He took a moment to look around, mainly for any enemies. And as there were none, he instead took a look at what he was surrounded by. "What the heck is this place?" He asked himself, not expecting an answer.

However, that was exactly what he got. "It looks like a town." Lucy commented behind him. The buildings of rock seemed to reach into the sky, never quite reaching it. Seeing her struggling to get up, he helped pulling her up from the more or less vertical ascension. Meanwhile, he knew Loke would have no problems getting up himself, and he would prefer it that way too.

"Yes, you're absolutely right." Someone with a much deeper voice than either Gray or Loke had said. The three looked up to see the approaching people. "The illusionary city Nirvana, is its name." They were reminded. "To have the both of you here is very reassuring." Jura told them with a sort of smile.

"The old man from Lyon's guild…" Gray said, his eyes bugging out of his head as he saw the person with him. "AND ORACIÓN SEIS?!" He blurted out, unable to stop himself.

Lucy also overreacted when she recognized the man with Jura. "Ehhhhh?!" She asked, recognizing the Oración Seis member to be Hoteye. The squared face kind of gave it away.

"Don't worry." Jura told them, gesturing to the bigger man next to him, however impossible it seemed. "He's now our ally." He reassured them.

Hoteye spread his arms out wide and smiled as brightly as the sun itself. "The world is lovely!" He announced happily.

Gray's eyes continued to bug out of his skull and sockets unnaturally. "No way! That old man can also use magic of Enlightenment?!" He asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I believe he is under the influence of Nirvana." Lucy told him in a low voice, not certain if Hoteye should know, as it had the possibility of pushing him over to the dark again.

"This is where the ancient people of Nirvit once lived." Hoteye explained suddenly, interrupting their conversation. "Around 400 years ago, many wars took place all over the world." He explained.

Loke sneaked his arms around his two friends' shoulders. "Can anyone explain to me, why he is explaining this to us?" He asked them in a whisper. They both replied with a shake of their heads.

"The people of Nirvit who remained neutral, lamented such world, and created a magic to maintain its balance." Hoteye continued unaffected. "An incredible magic that interchanged light and darkness. That magic was named after the country of peace, Nirvana." He explained dramatically.

Gray scowled. "How ironic. The country of peace known as Nirvana is now being used for evil purposes." He commented.

Lucy nodded. "But… Right from the start, it would be a good magic. If it didn't have the ability to turn light to dark." Lucy reminded them.

"It can't be helped." Jura replied firmly. "Perhaps the ancient people were also unable to foresee that far into the future."

Loke nodded. "Right. Strong magic comes with strong side effects every single time." He said, experience underlining his words. After all, he was maybe even older than Nirvana itself.

"At any rate." Hoteye said, regaining everyone's attention. "The city has started to move, and that's not good." He reminded them all. "We have to stop it as soon as possible." He explained.

Gray nodded firmly. "Obviously." He said as if it really was the most obvious thing in the world.

The priest-like dark-turned-light mage looked around at all of them. "Brain is controlling this city from the central master room." He explained. "While doing that, Brain can't use his magic. So it's the chance to attack him." Before now, Lucy hadn't realized just _how_ important insider-knowledge could be on a mission. Without Hoteye here telling them about that one disadvantage of Brain's they wouldn't have guessed.

Loke crossed his arms, stepping up to stand next to Lucy. "You said Nirvana's 'moving' though. Is it heading somewhere?" He asked the - perhaps former - Oración Seis member.

Hoteye nodded. "Most likely…" He confirmed. "But I don't know where its destination is." He admitted.

"That's right." A voice agreed behind them. "Only I know what father is thinking." He added.

They all looked up to see the one of the Oración Seis members they probably expected the _least_ standing on top of one of the taller buildings _._ "Midnight?!" Lucy blurted out before she could stop herself. That was the guy who had been sleeping throughout the whole battle last time they clashed.

"Hoteye." Midnight said, his voice cutting through the air as if it wasn't even there. "Have you betrayed father?" He asked his old teammate.

"No!" Hoteye exclaimed, raising his fist in determination. "I only realized that Brain is wrong!" He declared.

In a blur of sped, Midnight jumped down from the building, landing on the ground on both feet, steadied by one hand and his face hidden by his dark bangs. "Did you just say that my father is…" He slowly tipped his face upwards. "Wrong?" He asked, menace transparent in his voice.

"Father?" Gray asked with a surprised expression. "He said father… What was that…?" He asked, not even able to form a proper sentence.

Lucy just stared at the dark mage in front of her, eyes wide. "You mean they're father and son in the same, dark guild?" She asked hesitantly.

None of their questions were answered. Instead Hoteye just spoke to Midnight as if they hadn't even said a single word. "People's hearts shouldn't be manipulated by magic." He told him. "We can make weak hearts grow stronger." He suggested.

Midnight, now standing up with a straight back, looked at Hoteye with a quite… Crazed expression. Without saying a word, he swiped one arm forward. With that single movement, everything began to shake around them, the buildings, the ground, even the air seemed to shake. Everything went so fast none of them could really catch what was going on. At one moment, they were all facing the danger of being hit by a wall Midnight had torn down and hurled at them, and the next all of them, excluding Hoteye, were lying in a garbled mess in a hole in the ground, which hadn't been there before.

Loke pushed his glasses up. "Are you all right, Princess?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine Loke." She reassured him, rubbing her forehead the best she could, where she was feeling a light ache.

"What the hell happened?!" Gray asked.

"Hoteye-dono made the ground cave in and saved us." Jura explained, not even caring that he was upside-down.

"ALL OF YOU!" Hoteye called, drawing their attention once again. "PLEASE GO TO THE MASTER ROOM!" He told them. "The power of every person in Oración Seis is equal!" He reassured them. "Leave Midnight to me!" He ordered them, charging forward. While skidding to a stop, he shot his hand out towards his former teammate, the area around him exploding, rubble and dust flying up in the air in a cloud of dirt.

"You?" Midnight's voice asked from within the cloud. "Against me?" He asked, the cloud dissipating enough to reveal his face.

"A match between the Oración Seis?" Gray asked.

"Wow…" Lucy said. "This turned out to be some development." Lucy agreed. Everyone had managed to crawl up to the edge of the pitfall which had been made for them to watch the match unfolding in front of them.

"Hoteye-dono…" Jura grumbled.

"NOW!" Hoteye yelled, not daring to move his gaze from his opponent. "Go quickly!" He ordered them. Or, well, Lucy had thought he wouldn't dare to look away. But she was proved wrong when he looked back at them, a smile on his face and a blush on his cheeks. "Also, my real name is Richard." He revealed.

Midnight glared at Hoteye, or Richard. "To reveal your true name to the enemy…" Midnight muttered. "You've really fallen, Hoteye." He said with a hint of anger in his voice, and not even using his real name even though it was revealed.

The four exchanged gazes, before pulling themselves up and running off and away, leaving Hoteye to deal with Midnight, although a little reluctantly, but believing that he could pull through.

They weren't certain how long they had been running, when they saw… No one had ever expected to see anything like it. Brain, the leader of Oración Seis walking off, dragging Natsu behind him. Who was once again fighting his motion sickness.

"There!" Gray blurted out, attracting Brain's attention.

"Natsu-dono! What's wrong with you?" He asked what seemed to be an unconscious Dragon Slayer.

"It's because…" They heard a strained voice barely moaning out. "This is a vehicle.." The voice added. Almost everyone turned as one towards the voice, seeing their favorite, blue cat lying on the ground. "Everyone… Help Natsu.." He begged them. "He was taken." He stated, saying what they all had seen right in front of them.

"Half of Oración Seis have lost." Brain said, once again drawing the four mages' attention back to him. "And fallen to the ground." He said. Lucy noticed he had much fewer lines on his face, it looked almost bare in comparison. "In order to create a new order of Oración Seis, I'm taking this boy." He stated blatantly.

Gray scowled at him. "I thought this might happen sometime, but to actually be scouted for a dark guild." He said. True, Dragon Slaying magic was a strong magic, and Lost too, so really it wouldn't be over the edge if he got invitations to join other guilds.

Brain's kind of 'invitation' was kind of unconventional though. "Natsu won't become your ally just because you say so!" At least… That's what she hoped.

The dark mage smirked at them, their words not affecting him in the least. "Nirvana will taint his heart dark and he will become my servant." He explained.

"The hell…" Natsu muttered "I will!" He growled, chomping down on the arm dragging him along with his sharp dragon-like teeth.

"Tch." Brain grunted swinging his arm holding Natsu around and slammed him down on the ground, which caused the Slayer to immediately release him, breathing out air as he crashed with the ground. "You still have that much strength left?"

No, he did not. Now, lying on the ground, he looked no different than he did on trains, about to puke and all green in the face. She could just imagine it, the sheen of sweat covering him right about now. "He doesn't seem to be in good shape…" Jura commented.

Loke sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid Natsu is extremely sensitive to transportation." He said with a shrug. "If only he didn't take advantage of Princess because of it…!" He growled, glaring at the Slayer on the ground.

Said Dragon Slayer flipped over on his stomach. "Hurry… And… Defeat… This guy…" He somehow managed to breathe out. "Stop… This thing…" He said, before trembling as if he was about to barf.

Gray's scowl deepened. "Not doing this for you, but I'll stop it." He relented. Lucy and Loke nodded in agreement, they would stop it too.

A strange, dark aura erupted from Brain. "Stop? Nirvana? As if you can." He said patronizingly. "This city will soon reach its first target, arriving at Cait Shelter." He informed them, much to their surprise.

Lucy gasped. "That's Wendy and Carla's guild…" She trailed off. "Why would you do that?" She asked him, horrified.

Jura glared at the dark mage. "State your intentions as to why you are targeting Wendy-dono and Carla-dono's guild." He ordered the other guy.

Brain smirked again. "This extreme reversal magic will taint that light guild dark in an instant." He told them what they already knew. "I'm looking forward to it… Witnessing the depths of hell." He said.

Loke scoffed. "This bastard is sick." He almost growled.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in anger. "I'll never forgive him." She stated. Kidnapping a poor, little, defenseless girl and then planning on destroying her guild afterwards.

The Fairy Tail mages froze when they felt an immense, unyielding power behind them. "Didn't you hear me?" Jura's deep - and now also menacing - voice asked behind them. "State your intentions." He ordered.

The white haired guild master broke out laughing like a madman, not at all feeling the effect of the power the Wizard Saint was emanating the way the other three were. "I have nothing to say to weaklings like you! I AM THE JUDGE OF LIGHT AND DARK, AND RULE ALL!" He exclaimed loudly.

Jura bypassed the frozen Fairy Tail mages almost elegantly. "What a troublesome fellow." He said in a calm tone. Of course, it wasn't the nice kind of calm. "He can't even hold a proper conversation."

Brain's laugh went down to being an evil chuckle instead. "Get out of my sight, maggots." He said confidently.

Without a moment's hesitance, Jura whipped his hand up, two threatening fingers pointing at the opponent. Brain realized his grave mistake of underestimating the almost equally bulky man, when everything around him suddenly exploded, Jura standing unaffected as big boulders flew past him at dangerous speeds.

And then towards our three Fairy Tail mages. Loke, being the first to break out of the ice, jumped his two temporary teammates and pushed them down on the ground. "DOWN!" He yelled, and managed to push them down the moment before the boulder would've hit them, instead sailing over them at higher speeds than he thought a boulder could fly.

Meanwhile, Brain flew back and away from the huge crater, in which he had been standing a moment ago. He landed on the ground a little away, looking up at Jura with fear and a trembling body. "Wh… What is this magical power…?" He asked mostly himself.

Jura glared at him, a vein bulging out on his forehead. "Get up." He ordered the Oración Seis member. "I won't let you rest until you spit out the reason for attacking Cait Shelter." He said as close to growling one could come without actually doing it.

Loke pushed up a little from the two he was currently lying top of, 'unintentionally' leaning a little towards Lucy as he did so. "Well, doesn't surprise me." He said, pushing his glasses up on his head, a smirk on his face. "He _is_ one of the 10 Great Wizard Saints after all." He said, before turning to his Princess, making sure she was okay.

Brain seemed to get over his shock, standing up as he wiped blood away from the corner of his mouth. "I see… I'm a little surprised though." He said. "It seems the title of the Wizard Saint is not only for decoration." He admitted.

Jura didn't take any notice of the kind-of-compliment Brain was giving him. "There are many guilds based closer to here than Cait Shelter." Jura reminded everyone. "You must have a reason to aim at that specific guild." He stated.

The enemy guild master lifted his staff into the air. "People who are about to die won't need to know." He told him, dark magic suddenly gathering around his staff. Lucy's eyes widened when she saw that inside the dark magic, faces twisted in horror. "Dark Rondo." He chanted, before winging the staff down, pointing directly at Jura. All the magic gathered in the staff, burst right out towards the Lamia Scale mage.

Jura quickly crossed his arms in front of him. "Iron Rock Wall!" He yelled as several pillars of ground rose up, defending him and the ones behind him against the magic Brain had cast.

Speaking of the devil, the dark mage more or less flashed from one side of the wall of ground to the other, standing behind Jura. "You fell for it." He said with glee in his voice. Once again, he pointed the staff at Jura. "Dark Capriccio!" He chanted as a beam of dark magic, twirling around itself, was thrown towards the Wizard Saint.

Jura swung around, his arm with him, followed by a pillar of rock bending and curving around to protect him, not caring a least bit about whether physics allowed it or not.

Brain laughed at his defense. "That's useless! Dark Capriccio is a penetration magic." He told him as his dark magic crashed with the rock pillar. "It'll easily go through simple rock like that!" He reassured Jura.

And true to Brain's word, the Dark Capriccio easily dug into the rock pillar. Without any hesitation, Jura bent down, the formerly outstretched hand almost touching the ground now. With this movement, the pillar of rock bended and twisted to his command, deflecting the Capriccio's direction to shooting almost vertically up in the air. Without giving the onlookers or Brain any time to recover from the shock of that actually being possible at all, Jura thrust his hand forward, palm facing the startled Brain. His rock pillar seemed to burst and the rubble flew forward, attacking the opponent relentlessly.

So relentlessly, actually, they didn't even leave him after they had hit. Instead, they simply stuck to him, trapping him in a coffin of rock-pieces. "Supreme King Rock Crush!" He said, the rocks pressing so hard together, they squashed Brain underneath and then exploded out to all sides.

Brain fell back, landing on his back on top of the now crumbled ground. Unable to fight any longer after that hit. Lucy smiled at Jura's win. "We won!" She said happily.

Gray grinned widely as well. "He did it!" He said just as happy as Lucy. "This guy is the boss of Oración Seis, right?" He asked rhetorically.

Jura disregarded their questions and instead went to the fallen opponent, kneeling next to him. "Now… Tell me why you aimed for Wendy-dono's guild." He demanded.

"Does that really matter now?" Loke asked, crossing his arms as he faced Jura. "If we just stop Nirvana before it reaches Cait Shelter, then the problem should be solved." He said with a half shrug. A 'Yes please' could be heard from the downed Dragon Slayer.

"No…" Brain muttered. "No way… I got defeated…" He muttered incredulously. "Midnight… Take care of the rest… The six demons can't go down…" He muttered, his voice losing power with every word. "When the six prayers disappear… That person will…" And that was when he passed out.

"That person?" Jura asked Brain, only to realize he wouldn't be getting any answers anytime soon. "One of the lines disappeared from his face just now… What could it mean?" He asked himself.

"Everybody! It's terrible!" A soft voice called, interrupting Jura's thought process. It was the little, blue haired Sky Dragon Slayer, Wendy and her cat, Carla, following her. "This city! It's heading towards my guild!" She warned them, tears already forming in her eyes.

Gray grinned at her with crossed arms. "It was, but it's all right now." He reassured her and gestured towards the downed Oración Seis guild master, making Wendy shriek in surprise. "Cobra is collapsed over there too." He said and gestured in his general direction with a nod of his head.

Wendy smiled, relief washing over her face. "Thank god…" She said, her tears withdrawing slowly again.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I guess Brain was controlling Nirvana." She said, seeing as Natsu would be feeling a little better now. "Now that he has collapsed, Nirvana should stop too." She explained.

"I don't like it." Carla said, her small paws crossed in front of her chest. "In the end you couldn't find out why he was aiming for Cait Shelter, right?" She asked sternly.

Loke shrugged. "No, he passed out before he could tell us." He explained. "But there's not any point in finding out now, is there?" He asked her.

Jura stood up, stepping away from Brain. "There are a few things I'm still worried about. So l think we should end this as quickly as possible." He stated. "Besides, it would seem it was not Brain who controlled Nirvana." Jura added, pointing at Natsu, who was still battling with his motion sickness.

Gray frowned. "Right.." He said. "That big dude, said that the central master room controls Nirvana, didn't he?" He asked, remembering back to what Hoteye told them.

Lucy, a little embarrassed she had been mistaken like that, blushed and nodded quickly. "Oh yeah, Hot- Richard did say that, didn't he?" She asked rhetorically. "Well, let's go then!" She said.

Jura went to pick Natsu up and slung him over his shoulder, letting the Dragon Slayer breathe a little easier, although it wasn't by much. Likewise, Wendy picked up Happy, and with that settled, they all quickly ran to the central master room.

In a matter of a minute, all of them reached the central master room. Or what was left of it anyway. Once it had probably been a beautiful, circular room with that special grayish rock, which was everywhere on Nirvana, as floor tiles, high pillars reaching into the heavens and creating a roof over the room.

Only, all that beauty was gone. Left was no roof, broken pillars at very much different heights, cracked floor and rubble lying everywhere, tainting what had once probably been extraordinary.

But even more importantly than the empty room, was the fact that it was completely empty.

Gray threw his arms out from himself in an exasperated manner. "Where the hell are the damn controls?!" He asked in a yell.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Then how are we going to stop this thing?" She asked, figuring none of them would actually have the answer for it.

Gray's jaw clenched. "Damn…" He muttered. "I thought that as long as we defeated Brain, we could stop it." He said.

Loke shook his head and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You should know by now, it is never that easy, Gray." He said, gaining a frustrated sigh from the Ice Make mage.

"YOOOOOOSHH!" Natsu yelled, drawing everyone's attention to watching as the pink haired Dragon Slayer jumped around on Nirvana, a big grin on his face. It seemed Wendy had cured him of his motion sickness. "I'm perfectly fine!" He exclaimed, not at all reading the atmosphere going on. First he went to beg Wendy to teach him, but of course it was a Sky magic, so she couldn't. Next he practically skipped to Lucy, tears in his eyes. "Luce, I can't feel I'm on a vehicle!" He told her.

Lucy glared at him. "READ THE ATMOSPHERE!" She yelled at him. "We don't have time for this!" She told him, turning back to the ones she'd been talking with before. "But if there are no controls, and no one controlling them either, we beat Brain after all… Then why is Nirvana still moving?" She asked

Loke's eyes widened lightly as he connected the dots. "Princess, good observation." He told her with one of his dazzling smiles, before returning to the more serious mood. Although, he did spare some time to appreciate the blush dusting over his summoner's cheeks at the compliment. "I believe Nirvana's destination has been set, and that it is running on autopilot." He reasoned. He couldn't find any other explanation.

Wendy began trembling, her small hands rising to her mouth as fear and sadness reared their ugly heads. "Our… Our guild is…" She couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Don't worry!" Natsu said in what, at any other point in time, would have been cheery. However right now, it was not. "It won't get your guild. I'll pay back my debt." He promised her, his expression dead serious. "I'm gonna stop it for sure."

Carla raised her paw in order to gain their attention. "It's all very well saying you'll stop it, but how on Earthland do you plan on doing it?" She asked him.

"Uhh.." Natsu said. "Destroy it?" He deadpanned.

Lucy sighed exasperatedly. "Is that all you can think about?" She asked him, while her Lion Spirit literally face palmed next to her.

Gray scoffed. "How d'you plan on destroying something of this size?" He asked his friend and rival.

"I daresay asking Brain would be the quickest solution." Jura suggested.

Lucy looked down at Wendy, hearing her mutter something like 'Gerard' or the like. "Did you say something, Wendy?" She asked her.

Wendy shook her head. "N-no, it's nothing." She reassured her before running off and out of the broken room. "I… I might have an idea, so I'll just go and check it out!" She said, giving them no chance to stop her.

"Wendy!" Carla scolded, running after her friend. "Where do you think you're going?!" She asked her as the both of them disappeared from sight.

Before anyone could do anything, a distinctive voice sounded in their heads. _"Everyone, can you hear me?"_ It asked. _"It's me, Hoteye."_

"Richard-dono?!" Jura asked, shocked by his sudden 'appearance'. "Are you all right?" He asked him, while Lucy wondered how it was possible to speak through telepathy with so many people at once.

Hoteye, or Richard, sighed in their heads. _"I regret to inform you that I'm not, in fact, all right."_ He told them. _"Alas, I was ultimately no match for Midnight."_ He informed them. _"I beg you to work together and do all you can to defeat Midnight. If you defeat him, the flow of magic into Nirvana will cease… And this city should stop moving."_ He explained.

Gray crossed his arms, nodding. "So it's a kind of Living Link magic, huh?" He asked.

Hoteye skipped Gray's question. _"You will find him directly beneath the central master room. Please do be careful. He truly is… Very powerful."_ He admitted.

Jura frowned. "Richard-dono…" He said almost doubtfully. Something was wrong, he was sure of it.

None of them paid him any attention though. "Right below us?!" Lucy almost panicked at the thought of such a strong mage so close to them already.

Gray, however, grinned. "Right! Looks like we have a ray of hope!" He exclaimed, eager to finally stop Nirvana in its tracks.

Natsu balled his fists and grinned, just like Gray. "Powerful, huh…?" He asked in a low voice. "Now I'm all fired up!" He then told them.

"Natsu…" Loke almost groaned. "It's for the sake of stopping Nirvana, not so you can satiate your hunger for fighting."

"Let's go!" They all agreed, before beginning to make their way down the tower.

" _Only one of the six prayers remains…"_ They heard Richard's voice say, distinguishably weaker than before. _"You must prevail… Nirvana must… Be stopped!"_ He said almost as if he was in pain before his presence disappeared from their minds.

They ran down the large flight of stairs, ending down at the big gate-like door. Natsu immediately charged the door, tearing it open. "Get out here you sleepy bastard!" He yelled, the door opening, to only show nothing but a bright, white, unnatural light. "Eh?" Was Natsu's only reaction.

"It's a trap!" Jura yelled, before all of their sights turned completely black and the ringing after a big explosion was the only thing they could hear as they laid on the ground.

"Ugh…" Natsu groaned somewhere close to Lucy, where she couldn't tell. "That hurts.." He admitted.

Gray, seeing nothing other than black only wondered one thing. "Are we even alive?" He asked the others confusedly, gaining an 'Aye' from Happy.

"Princess!" She heard Loke call out to her somewhere very close. "Are you all right?!" He asked her hurriedly.

Lucy tried to straighten from the awkward position she had landed it, somehow. "Yeah, I'm fine Loke." She reassured him. "What's going on though…? After that gigantic explosion, we…" She trailed off, pushing up from the ground. However, as she did, she hit her head on the low roof of whatever she was caught in. "Ow…" She mumbled, touching the roof. "This.. This is.."

Before she could actually say it out loud, Natsu sprung up like a spring, bursting through the roof of their cage making enough room for all of them. What they saw was the big, bulky man of Lamia standing with his arms spread out wide as his whole form trembled.

"He… He protected us!" She said, fingers flying up to cover her mouth as she began tearing up at the thought of the man sacrificing himself to protect them from the blast.

They all called out to him, when he began falling backwards. "You certainly are lively youngsters." He commented as Natsu burst a bigger hole in the shell he had made for them. "I'm glad.. You're… Safe…" He said and crashed to the ground.

"OLD GUY!" Gray yelled as he jumped out of their protective shell and ran to the fallen mage, followed by the other four. "You'd better not die on us, old guy!" He told him, not sure what to do

Lucy fell on her knees next to Jura's head. "What should we do…? These wounds are terrible!" She said. If only Wendy hadn't run away.

Their conversation was halted, when they felt and heard someone approaching. "Things certainly seem to have become interesting." A dark, unfamiliar voice commented. "Was even the mighty Midnight eliminated?" The same voice asked.

"Yes sir!" Another voice answered. "M-my deep apologies, Zero-sama!"

They all looked over to see nothing more than a silhouette, holding a staff. However, there's wasn't a second person anywhere in sight.

"At any rate." The voice said, a smirk in his voice. "This certainly is a refreshing feeling. This body… This voice… This nostalgic power… It's all so nostalgic." He said.

Natsu, the stupid one of all of them. "Oi! Who are you?!" He asked the silhouette of a person.

His grin only widened as he finally revealed his identity. "I will take care of the rest, stand back Klodoa." He said as he released the staff, which obediently jumped down and away, having a life of its own.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Brain, who out of the blue summoned new clothes to get rid of the old, tattered ones. Except… It seemed his skin-tone had gotten lighter, his white hair was now messier then it had been before and the sclera of his eyes had turned completely black, giving him a demonic appearance. And, all the lines on his face were all gone, as if they had never been there in the first place. Just like all the wounds he had gotten in the battle against Jura

He turned to the Fairy Tail mages, all standing around the fallen Wizard Saint. "Young brats…" He started off slowly and darkly. His voice had changed to a much darker tone than his previous voice. What had happened? "You would appear to have done quite some damage to my guild. As Master, I will have to take the proper retaliatory action."

Lucy gasped as she suddenly put two and two together. "He has a split personality!" She blurted out without thinking.

When his gaze came to rest on her, she flinched back. His lips turned upwards to a smirk. "Ohh, the blonde one's smart." He said patronizingly. "Well, what do you know, I haven't even introduced myself." He said with amusement clear on his face. "I'm Zero, master of Oración Seis." He said and tipped his head back, a creepy expression on his face. "And I will be bringing you to hell." He told them, before glancing down on the unconscious Earth mage. "Starting with the one who took my other self down."

With a whip of his hand, dark magic burst out of it, quickly travelling towards Jura. Gray instantly reacted, bringing his hands together in the usual Ice Make stance. "SHIELD!" He quickly yelled, a wall of ice rising between Jura and Zero.

However, as soon as the dark magic hit the shield, it was clear to everyone it would not be holding out.

Therefore, Natsu quickly sprang into action, charging into action, his fists on fire as he more or less teleported to end up ready to attack right under Zero's defenses.

Right at that moment though, his dark magic overwhelmed Gray's shield and knocked him back effortlessly and Zero swiped the hand he had been holding out around in a wide arc, ending up with hitting Natsu's head and sending him flying into and through a wall with amazing speed and strength.

Lucy stood, shaking like a leaf, as she had watched both of the strongest people she knew getting beaten so easily by a single person. And knew she had absolutely no chances of anything in this match. She was, for the first time, truly, sincerely and genuinely afraid. Afraid of Zero. Afraid for her teammates. Afraid of what might happen to her.

She only barely registered Loke stepping in front of her, vowing to protect her with his life, before Zero's magic erupted from the ground underneath them. In the last moment, Loke managed to push Lucy out at the edge of Zero's attack, taking the brunt of it himself as he screamed in pain, disappearing back to his own world.

Lucy flew back, landing on her back on the ruble, although still conscious and decided that for now, it would be in her best interest to just play unconscious, like her teammates.

With a last malicious cackle, Zero left the scene with Klodoa, his staff, though not before breaking the wall and roof above and behind them, leaving only the sound of everything crashing above and around her and the last cackle of his, before everything became completely silent.

 **Jesus effing Christ! How in the world do these chapters get so long?!**

 **Yes, I said I would finish the Oración Seis arc in this chapter, and yes, I know I haven't. Completely.  
See, this was always the plan. With the next chapter, I will briefly round up what will happen from here on out, which will easily be explained, so actually, I kept up to my promise. At least the one I had in mind. For this chapter.  
From now on I will promise not to promise to finish a whole arc in one chapter ._." **

**Some of you, who nerd Fairy Tail a bit more than others, might realize I completely left out Fairy Tail and the fallen Jura's confrontation with Klodoa, the staff with the skull, but honestly… If I had to add that too, what kind of monster chapter wouldn't this be?!  
I was desperate to finish this thing at the end!  
So yea, it might seem a bit rushed, and please forgive me for that. **

**As always, thank you, you wonderful people who take off some time to read, follow, favorite and review to my story! Many, MANY thanks!**

 **~Line464d**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Here ya go~ Another chapter out already!  
Also, don't kill me if this match ends out absolutely horrible, I have never tried writing basketball matches before. **

**Oh yes, thanks to BuJenMah for pointing out the mistake I made with Akashi's eyes. The yellow one's only there when his second personality is in control, whereas he has two red eyes as his 'normal' self. I hadn't caught that, but thank you, I went back and corrected it.**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Please, as if I could convince those two stingy-bees to hand over their stories. Geez. **

**At Lucy's~**

Lucy stumbled into her room, throwing her things by the door before collapsing on her bed. She was honestly too exhausted to even consider changing clothes. Luckily, Virgo had brought some of her clothes from home, as she had known it would be likely Lucy would have to change… Again. And she had overheard the conversation Lucy had with Kozo too. Besides, it covered every and any wound she had, being a long sleeved t-shirt, a short skirt, but with a pair of black leggings underneath.

Tomorrow, if Wendy had the energy for it, she would have to ask the sweet, little girl if she could heal her. After all, explaining the wounds she'd gotten from a building crashing down on her would be difficult, when she couldn't say a building had crumbled on top of her.

The only reason she had even opted to move from there, had been because Hibiki had used his Telepathy to connect to everyone - everyone being Erza, Natsu, Gray, Ichiya, Wendy, Jellal, who turned out to actually be a good guy against all odds, and herself, of course - uploading a certain time to their heads, at which they would have to each destroy one of Nirvana's six legs. It would have to be simultaneous, as otherwise it would just grow another one. Somehow.

Of course, Zero decided to interrupt their conversation, stating that Brain, his other personality, and Hibiki apparently had the same magic, Archive. Or something. Honestly, she had been too tired to actually make any sense of what had happened. One thing she _did_ catch very clearly was Zero was in one of the chambers holding the Lacrima, which powered up the legs. And whoever got that leg, would have to fight him first.

And that would be because Natsu couldn't shut up about it when they returned home - Not to mention his fight with Cobra, who turned out to be a Poison Dragon Slayer, he couldn't shut up about that either. By train.

Yes, indeed. By _train_. Wendy had been so nice as to heal Natsu with some spell of hers, so he didn't suffer from his usual motion sickness. Instead, he got overly excited over the fact that he didn't and began blabbering about how he had beaten Zero - by choosing the leg he somehow intuitively knew the guy would be on - and, if anything, was even more exited telling about the golden flame, which's name he of course didn't remember, he had eaten and gained awesome power through, easily beating Zero, which he described several times, making the battle grander and grander each time he did so. Unfortunately, they couldn't be told the real story, as Jellal wasn't with them.

Now, one might've been wondering why Jellal wasn't with them and why Wendy was.

Well, Jellal was the simplest to explain. Apparently, after having been blasted by Etherion back at the Tower of Heaven, he had lost his memory completely. The only word he remembered being 'Erza', as the woman herself had explained. At the end of everything he had chosen - no, not forced, _chosen_ \- to go to prison and take whatever punishment he would get without complaint. Obviously something, Siegrain if Lucy remembered right, had been controlling him, changing him to become what he was when he was their enemy. Now, having lost his memory, all there could possibly be left was him was his real personality, the one Erza had been friends with and fallen for. If her expression when talking about him was anything to go by anyway.

As for Wendy, well there was a bit more explaining to do there. Or, well… As it turned out, Wendy's guildmates were actually the ancient Nirvits, who had created Nirvana. When Jellal, according to the girl herself, had brought her to the guild, which he had when the two stumbled upon each other sometime after Wendy had lost her dragon mother, Grandine, he had made an agreement, as far as she understood, with the guild master of Cait Shelter, who was the Nirvit who had created Nirvana himself.

See, once they created Nirvana, they used it to turn many people away from darkness and into the light. Alas, Nirvana itself absorbed a lot of darkness, its original light switching places with the darkness from the people turned around. As the Nirvits had lived on Nirvana, that darkness the old construction had absorbed and radiated reached those living on it, changing them. They almost drove each other to extinction, Robaul, the 'guild master' of the 'guild' known as Cait Shelter, was the only survivor left. He swore to protect Nirvana from falling into the wrong hands until it could be destroyed.

Now, the agreement he had made with Jellal, came to place back when the boy at a young age had brought the even younger, unconscious girl to him, the lone survivor of the annihilation of the Nirvits, asking him to take care of the girl, Wendy. Robaul agreed, and the next day, when Wendy woke up, he had created a guild for her, made all up of illusions.

Now they had defeated Nirvana, his task had reached an end, and he called back all his illusions. He then proceeded to remind them that the creation of Nirvana was 400 years ago, and that of course, he was not still alive. He was nothing but a mere spirit, unable to leave the place because he still had a lingering problem he felt he needed to finish, protecting the world from Nirvana. However, as soon as his illusions disappeared, he said his final goodbye, before finally travelling to heaven, after his old tribe.

With this she had been invited to join Fairy Tail by Erza, to which she had rather tearfully and somewhat reluctantly agreed to. But then, as she had told them herself, she had still been very young when Grandine disappeared, and there was probably still a lot of Dragon Slayer things she still needed to learn. And as Fairy Tail housed both Gajeel and Natsu, who would have learnt more from their Dragons, they would help her with anything that would come up.

Lucy would make sure of that.

At any rate, it had been an incredibly long day. When she glanced up at her Lacrima clock, her suspicions were confirmed, as the clock was six in the morning and the guild would be open in an hour or so.

She closed her eyes and was quickly lulled to sleep by the beginning twittering of the birds.

 **Earth~**

"Lu…? Ex… se me… ucy?" She groggily heard someone ask from somewhere far, far away. So far, in fact, that she didn't really care and turned over, her back to whatever was speaking, grumbling annoyed mumbles. "Hey! Don't just turn over on me!" She heard, now much clearer than before.

She opened her eyes with a sigh of barely concealed frustration at having been interrupted from the little sleep she could get these days. She squinted her eyes, only seeing silhouettes against the harsh light.

While she blinked to clear her vision, the closest silhouette pulled a little away, giving her the freedom of space. "Good to see you're finally awake." The voice said, amusement showing even in the way the profile of a person was holding itself.

Lucy groggily sat up from wherever she was lying - honestly she didn't want to know - and looked back up at the silhouettes, which had become a little clearer, but not enough for her to could distinguish exactly who it was. However, she did see that the person in front of her had short hair and was a guy and could only assume one thing. "…Aomine…?" She asked slowly, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"Aomine…?" The voice asked confusedly. Then it shook its head. "What? Have you already forgotten us?" The voice asked teasingly.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows when her eyes finally adjusted to the sharp contrast and she recognized the people standing in front of her. With a smile she shook her head. "No, of course not!" She reassured Kureto Shinta, the captain of the Ryoma team. Which her team was supposed to play… Today!

Arching a single eyebrow at her, he offered a hand to help her up. "Do you sleep on the floor often, Lucy?" He asked her.

Lucy accepted his offer, but crossed her arms as soon as she was up on her own feet, giving him a fake glare. "Not if I'd had any say in it." She said, before cringing a little and scratching her head. "Unfortunately, I have the tendency to wake up the strangest of places." She admitted, thinking back on the many weird places she had found herself waking up in.

"That certainly is true." A lightly amused voice agreed, accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps. "You wouldn't happen to be the team from Ryoma we are to play against, would you?" Akashi asked, smoothly brushing off the previous topic of conversation.

The Ryoma team followed him with their eyes as he came to a stop next to the blonde woman. The guy with the eternal scowl on his face, Junpei Hyuuga, looked at Akashi with an even deeper scowl. "Who's asking?" He asked rather rudely.

If Lucy hadn't seen the flash of buried irritation in Akashi's eyes, she might have acted out upon her own. Nonetheless, Akashi easily glossed it over before it really could come to fruition. "I am Seijuro Akashi of Teiko's basketball team. I am looking forward to playing against you." He said. Whether he actually meant it or not was anyone's guess.

Kureto patted Hyuuga's shoulder, signaling for him to just keep his mouth shut and let him speak. "So are we, Akashi." He reassured the redhead.

Lucy smiled, recognizing the tone of rivalry between Akashi and the other team from Natsu and Gray back at Earthland. "So, Kureto-san-"

She earned a sigh from the captain of the opposing team. "I think we established last time, that it's just _Kureto._ " He said, stressing his own name. Without the suffix.

The blonde's smile only widened at this. "Yeah, yeah, _Kureto._ " She said, putting emphasis on his name the same way he had before. "Anyway why did you wake me? You must have had a reason." She asked them.

"Apart from you sleeping on the floor?" One from the Ryoma team asked, earning a round of snickers from said team.

Lucy blushed, but nodded. "Yeah… Apart from me sleeping on the floor." She confirmed.

Kureto grinned. "Well, actually we wanted to ask you where the guest changing rooms were…" His gaze flickered to Akashi, before he turned back to Lucy with another grin on his face. "So, can you help us?" He asked, directed at her.

Lucy was about to agree with a nod, but Akashi beat her to it. "I will take you, it is right over here." He said and gestured towards the changing rooms. He looked back to Lucy. "Momoi should be here any moment now." He told her before telling the Ryoma team to follow him, as he guided them to the changing rooms.

She smiled and nodded at all of them, when they first asked her whether she'd be watching the match, and then that they'd see her later. Once they turned away, her eyes settled on Akashi and her mind on the weirdness of his actions. Although they were faintly familiar. Where had she seen it before…?

Before she could ponder on where and when she had last seen that kind of actions, she was caught off guard when suddenly her favorite little pinkette came ramming into her, just as Akashi had promised. "Lucy-chan!" She squealed and hadn't it been for Lucy being exhausted from the battles she had completed on Earthland, she would have caught herself before her butt hit the floor. Except she had, so all she could do was try to tune down her wincing as much as possible.

"Sat-chan!" She greeted her friend, ignoring the pain she felt flickering through her when the girl tightened her arms around her.

Momoi pulled back and sat on the ground in front of Lucy, tilting her head a little to the side in confusion. "Why didn't you show up yesterday?" She asked innocently.

Lucy almost squealed just she had earlier at the cuteness right in front of her. But then, she had to figure out what to say to the pinkette. Saying she'd come from battling in another dimension probably wouldn't satisfy the girl. "Well…" She trailed off, stalling for more time. "I wasn't feeling too well, so I decided to stay away. Sorry." Lucy said, cringing at her obvious lie. Or well, not-entirely-truth-but-not-entirely-lie-either.

Momoi's warm, pink eyes contorted in worry. "Are you feeling better now?" She asked and before Lucy had the chance to reply, she leaned forward, their foreheads meeting. "You don't feel warm, so it wasn't a cold…" She commented.

Lucy smiled and giggled at the sweet girl, who was wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Oh, don't worry Momoi. I'm feeling all right now, it eased overnight." She reassured the pinkette.

"Good to see you're back, Lucy." They heard from the entrance of the gym. The two turned to see the rest of their team entering. "It's good to hear you're feeling well again." Nijimura told her with that little smile of his.

Lucy and Momoi both got up to their feet as the familiar group, Nijimura and the rest of the first years - including Haizaki, for once - approached and Lucy smiled brightly at them all. "Thank you." She said. Suddenly, something struck her and she turned to Momoi. "Sat-chan, did you tell them all about who to watch out for?" She asked the younger girl.

Momoi nodded with a bright smile. "Of course I did!" She reassured the blonde, lowering her voice as she continued. "Shun Izuki, good overview, Junpei Hyuuga, three-pointers and Kureto Shinta, high speed and captain of the team." She said with a finger lifted.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yep, of course you would." Just because she didn't show up, didn't mean Momoi couldn't go through it all without her.

As Lucy and Momoi went to the benches to get ready to watch the match begin, the Teiko team proceeded to go to the changing room, also getting ready for the match. For a moment, Lucy felt slightly restless, as there were no tools they had to set up, as they usually would.

But, soon enough, both teams emerged on the court, one after the other and began warming up on each of their halves of the court though small exercises. First some running exercises, probably to loosen the muscles, then they continued to do some light shooting at the net, getting a bit into the game they were about to play.

Out of nowhere, Kozo appeared next to the two girls, seating himself next to the blonde. "Hello Lucy." He greeted her, sending her a grandfatherly smile.

Lucy returned the smile, while Momoi had absolutely no idea how to act around the head coach. "Hi Kozo!" She greeted him familiarly, which only made the pinkette even more flustered.

He discretely noticed Lucy wearing yet another set of clothes, this set covering everything. Her hair was slightly messy, as if she hadn't had time to brush it before coming here. Or perhaps it was her own choice, as it seemed they hid some slight injuries at the side of her head. "Are you feeling all right today?" He asked her.

Lucy, having caught on to the hidden question behind the asked one, whether everything had worked out on Earthland. Lucy almost beamed as she nodded. "Yes, everything's worked out just fine! I'm feeling much better today." She reassured him.

Kozo sent her a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're over it now." He told her, to which she silently agreed. She didn't need to fight any major guilds anytime soon, and wouldn't, if she had a choice at all. Kozo looked out at the court again, seeing the teams getting ready for the upcoming match, he rose to his feet again. "Well, I better get out there, I'm the judge of the match after all." He said before standing up and making it towards the other side of the court. "I'll see you both later, Lucy, Momoi." He said with a wave and a kind smile, before leaving them to themselves.

Momoi sat frozen in her seat for a moment, before turning to Lucy. "Just… How can you speak so casually with the head coach?!" She asked the blonde mystery. Meanwhile, she wondered how said head coach had learned of her name. She wasn't even a player after all.

Lucy smiled at her. "Well, he's a friend of mine, I guess you could put it." She answered. Their relationship was a bit complicated, after all.

Lucy's gaze was drawn to the balcony when she saw a group of people entering it, none she could recognize. Well, not until she looked a little closer, noticing the mob of blue hair, whose owner had somehow made it to the very front of the balcony. When she caught his gaze, she smiled and waved at him, to which he simply responded with a little wave and no change in his expression. So the 3rd string was here to watch a 1st string's match.

Momoi, confused once again with the blonde, followed her gaze, looking up to find whoever Lucy was waving at, but not finding anyone who were actually looking down at them she looked back to Lucy. "Who are you waving at, Lucy-chan?" She asked her friend.

The blonde smiled at the pinkette. "He can be a little hard to find despite his appearance." She said, remembering the oddly blue hair. "He's short, has kind of pale skin, blue eyes and just as blue hair. Kind of similar to Akashi's." She explained.

Momoi furrowed her eyebrows. Someone with that appearance should be easy to find. She looked back up, and suddenly a boy of Lucy's description popped up. She was certain he hadn't been there before, but now he stood at the front, but even though he had the blue hair between the others with black and dark hair, he didn't stand out at all. "What the…" She trailed off, at a loss for words.

Lucy giggled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's a bit strange." She agreed. "But he's very nice, once he opens up to you a bit." She admitted.

Their attention was drawn to the court, when the whistle was blown. "Look! The match's starting!" Momoi said, leaning a little forward in her seat, as if that would give her a better view.

And truly, the match was about to begin, as five from each team stepped out on the court. At the middle of the field, the two tallest from each team, it being Murasakibara from Teiko, ready to win the ball in the tip-off. Kozo looked between them, stating he wanted a fun and friendly match, to which both sides agreed with a shake of their hands.

They stood side by side, focused on the ball which had yet to be thrown, however as soon as the starting whistle sounded, the whole room turned livid in anticipation as the ball was thrown up.

Murasakibara jumped up after the ball, which was thrown in a high arc, at just the right time, which seemed simultaneous, the purple-haired boy caught the ball. Well, with the advantage of his enormous height, it didn't really come as a surprise.

In a matter of seconds the Ryoma team had taken their positions at their own side of the court, as the Teiko team came closer, playing the ball between each other. The teams were surprisingly evened out. Every time one went for a drive or tried to make an opening, it would always be covered or countered it. Thinking about it, it kind of looked like a dance choreography only known to those players.

These guys were just middle-schoolers, she couldn't help but wonder what a game on the national level looked like.

Finally, the ball was thrown to Nijimura, who had become impatient with nothing happening. He pushed the ball down into the floor, weaving between the opponent players. Unfortunately, in a flash of movement, Izuki's hand shot out and pushed the ball out of Nijimura's hand. The ball bounced on the ground and right into Kureto's hands.

The captain took off running at a speed rivalling that of the 3rd string when they had used the 1st string gym and were cleaning up. Except he was with a ball rather than a rag. He sped across the court, passing by each of the players, just like Nijimura had. The only difference was, no one was guarding the net, he had bypassed everyone. All he had to do was throw the ball and score.

Which he did, scoring two points to his team.

Running back again, he high-fived his teammates before falling back into the silent formation. The first years of Teiko returned to the battle with a newfound energy.

Lucy smiled the tiniest bit, remembering this would be their first match as a team. Then, her eyes furrowed a bit. Which would mean they were probably a bit cocky concerning their own level of skill… Teiko was said to be the middle school with the strongest basketball team and they had made it straight to the 1st string. But they were still children, grown up in a much more peaceful world, in some aspects anyway, so they were excused.

Natsu wasn't though.

Now a bit agitated, the Teiko team, or more specifically the first years of the Teiko team, seemed to have lost a bit of their focus. The way they played, their dance, it had become slightly sloppy in comparison to their previously fine-tuned and precise movements. Or that was what she, a complete amateur on the subject, thought.

After a failed attempt at scoring any points, by Aomine who had rushed in without looking around. This time, the Ryoma team took it more calmly, letting the Teiko team have enough time to go back and get on the defense, before playing the ball around a little.

Seemingly without any kind of signal, Kureto moved in to screen the player standing in front of Hyuuga, another of the Ryoma the second closest Teiko member, as Hyuuga took a pair of quick steps forward, before leaping into the air, aiming the ball at the net. He released it and it flew in an elegant arc before bouncing off the backboard and into the net.

With another round of high fives, Nijimura had finally gotten enough. "Calm down, guys. Anger only worsens your game." He called the boys, who only nodded in response. However, in their eyes shone understanding.

Lucy smiled at how reminiscent it was of her own team. Gray and Natsu would never say it out loud, but they always knew whenever she or Erza were right about something. Such as rushing in wasn't always the smartest way to go about everything.

After Nijimura's warning, playing went much smoother than it had just the round before. Even just moving from one end of the court to another, it seemed they were all in sync, all a part of a whole. Again, kind of like her own team at times. Few times, but times nonetheless.

Haizaki had taken the ball and was dribbling across the court, an excited grin on his face, flanked by his entire team - this being Nijimura, Murasakibara, Midorima and Aomine. For now, Akashi was sitting at the ready with other third and second years - but closest by Aomine.

With only a barely catchable nod of their heads - she had only caught it because she'd been looking so closely at them - and a bit of a widened grin, Haizaki immediately went for a drive upon reaching the one standing in his way. Getting behind the first layer of defense, here being the 'small forward' of the Ryoma team, the center, the one who had jumped at the tipoff with Murasakibara, stepped in. Predictably.

And Haizaki had counted on it too. Without letting his speed falter or his eyes flicker at all, he sent the ball to Aomine, who had come sneaking in around the defense and close to the net. As the blue-haired kid set off in the air, he caught the ball and easily threw it into the hoop midjump. Lucy had actually thought Haizaki would be the type to run solo, but perhaps she was wrong.

The two exchanged high fives and got an approving nod from their captain.

Assuming their positions, the Teiko team prepared themselves to defend their goal against the advancing opponent. However, as soon as Kureto passed the ball to another of his teammates, Nijimura immediately jumped in, grabbing the ball right in front of the one it was passed to and continued to charge at the net. As soon as he passed the three-point arc and into the weird circle inside it, Nijimura set off in a jump and slammed the ball through the net, evening the score to being a one-point difference and paying Kureto back from the steal and then the counter they'd made before, stealing the ball out of his hands.

The entire game played out like that, when one scored, the other team retaliated by scoring points. When one team stepped up their games, so did the other. When Midorima scored a three-pointer, so did Hyuuga. When Kureto scored a ball, so did Nijimura. When Murasakibara took a ball, so did the center of the Ryoma team. No matter what one team did, the other countered it one way or another.

In the end, at the very last one minute of the game, the score had even to an 80:80 for both teams and the Ryoma team were holding the ball. At this point, Lucy was only barely keeping herself from biting her nails.

And they weren't busy at all. Actually, they were stalling for time as far as possible, while not keeping the game completely still. Well, either that or Teiko's defense was too tight for them to break through. After passing the ball around for a half minute, looking for an opening, finally an opportunity appeared.

Kureto quickly sent a signaling gaze to his team members, the center, the one on his left and the one at his right, Izuki. He then proceeded to move to confront Nijimura, who was standing in defense against Kureto. He dribbled the ball in front of him, but when he came close to the other captain, he did a quick crossover as he drove past him, speeding up. While Nijimura quickly whipped around to pursue him again, finding Murasakibara, Akashi and Midorima being screened, while Kureto had free space to reach the hoop.

The slight hesitation Nijimura showed in the moment he took in the scene before him, caused the opponent captain to have a little head start, which in turn meant his ball had easily landed in the hoop.

The whistle sounded. Ryoma had 82 points and Teiko 80, and there were 15 seconds left of the game. Midorima went to pick up the ball with his un-bandaged fingers, before joining the other of his team members. He turned to Nijimura and pushed his glasses up. "Captain, do I have your permission to try something out?" He asked.

A little bit surprised, Nijimura nodded. "Sure, go right ahead, Midorima." He offered. They had less than ten seconds left now, no matter what they did, it was doubtful they could land a ball anyway.

Midorima nodded, before taking the stance he always took whenever he was about to shoot a three-pointer.

Lucy's eyes widened. Surely Midorima wasn't planning on trying to score from where he stood, at the mid-court line? That would be impossible! No one could do that!

However, despite him being sure to know that, it didn't stop him at all. He proceeded to jump as everything slowed down to an unbearable speed. It all seemed to take an eternity as the clock on the wall counting the time left went down and as Midorima rose higher into the air.

3…

He pushed his arms upwards, above his head.

2…

He reached the peak of his jump.

1…

He pushed the ball out of his hands with his fingers.

0…

The alarm rang loudly in the gym. The ball flew up into the air. The time felt agonizingly slow. It flew up in a high arc. Slowly, it moved so painfully slowly. It flew over the heads of every Ryoma member. At its own snaillike pace, it passed the peak of its arc. All waited anxiously for the outcome. The ball closed in on the hoop. It passed over the hoop. Hit the backboard. Flew back down to the metal ring. Hit it. Bounced off to the other side. The metal rang in the completely silent room. The ball circled around with the hoop's circle. Round and round it went. The tension in the gym rose with every round. The ball rose to circle higher on the hoop. Everyone leaned forward. The ball stood still. Inhales of air were heard. It stood still for an eternity.

Then it fell.

It fell down towards the floor, down through the hoop. The pregnant silence was dissolved by the sound of the judge's whistle accepting it as a goal.

Lucy and Momoi jumped up cheering and caught each other in a hug. This was the first game Lucy had ever watched and she worried about her heart if she had to watch any more games as exciting as this one. However, in the end, they had won! 83 to 82! With only a single point!

At the same time, Aomine pounced on Midorima, ruffling his hair with his fist with a big grin. Nijimura gave Midorima a high five and a compliment and more or less the rest of the team did too, as it was basically more or less an impossible shot.

Kureto approached Nijimura - and the rest of the Teiko team - and offered his hand for a shake. "Thanks for the game, Nijimura." He said, smiling although they had lost.

Nijimura gave a nod and a little smile before taking the offered hand. "Yeah, it was a good game." He agreed.

Kureto's grin widened a fraction. "You know, I was kinda offended when you sent purely first years out against us." He admitted, before glancing to said first years, who had instead begun bantering like they always did. "But they're quite talented, I'll give them that." He said.

The Teiko captain followed the other guy's gaze, landing on the younger-by-one-year boys. "Yeah, I know they are." He said before beginning to move past his fellow captain. He stopped, however, for a moment, putting a hand on the other's shoulder before moving past. "And I also know that you know where our changing rooms are perfectly well." He said, before continuing towards Sanada and Kozo, discussing the outcome of this match, feeling the smirk sent his way as he went.

 **Okay, so please don't burn me for that horribly crappy basketball match, but 1) I have absolutely no idea how to write a basketball match and just make one from the top of my head, 2) The amount of words I 'had left' were few, as you can see and 3) Everything in the middle wasn't actually that important, it was really just the beginning and the end.**

 **So, yeah. I had actually also wanted to add an exchange between Lucy, Momoi and Kureto, where she finds out he knew all along that the two girls were actually 'spies' for Teiko, but then I didn't know how I would get to that conversation even happening or what the hell would be said after that which was not awkward. So yes. There you go. He knows.**

 **Now we're on the topic, I had also wanted Haizaki to… Well… Flirt, I guess, with Lucy. But as she had been subjected to the Trimen for a whole, long day, she would be pissed off, Lucy Kick him into a wall and such, but…. Well, I guess we'll save that for later :3**

 **Anyway, so Midorima showcased some of his potential right there, at the end. Or, his potential potential. I don't know anything about basketball in practice, as in in games, my only source of knowledge is KnB, really, otherwise it's just reading about and stuff. Anyway my point is that I'm not sure whether the shot he made is as impossible as I pushed it up to be, but to me it seems absolutely impossible, so that's just what I'm going to go with. Yup.**

 _ **OH YES! ATTENTION PLEEEEEAAAASSSSEEE!**_ **It seems I have - not on purpose, of course - gotten some of you lovelies confused! See, Kureto Shinta and the Ryoma school are both creations of my imagination. Meaning, they are OC's. Or… Well…. Kureto is. Anyway, some have been confused and now I just wanted to clear that up!**

 **I think I've been talking enough now, haven't I? So thank you everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed! I really, REALLY appreciate it very, VERY much!**

 **~Line464d**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **170 Reviews, guys! Thank you so much!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Tweedy-Dee and Tweedy-Dumb (not really, but you know) have not yet realized their huge mistake that is not handing over their stories. To me, of course.**

 **Earthland~**

Lucy awoke when she slid down from bed, landing on the floor with a crash. She turned around to her back, though not without moaning in drowsiness, irritation and slight pain. She opened her eyes and stared up at the roof, the edge of the bed peeping in from the side. This was not how she imagines waking up.

She sat up with a groan, crossing her legs as she did so. She rubbed the back of her head, hoping she'd somehow rub the tiredness out of her that way. It didn't entirely work. Instead, her fear of seeing her normally beautiful, golden hair in the mirror just grew. It probably looked like a bird's nest.

Nonetheless, she probably didn't have a choice. She got up to her feet, not without yet another grunt of exhaustion, and began moving towards the bathroom, grabbing some new and fresh clothes on the way.

Somehow, when she had gone to Earth, she had forgotten more or less all about the dangerous battle she had _just_ taken part in with all the excitement going on regarding the match and all. Now, she couldn't believe she could stand to be around people, and much less that they could stand being around her. She felt like she smelled similar to a pig, which had rolled around in mud and dung afterwards, just so it would stick. In other words: She felt disgusting and like she really needed a bath. Really quick too.

Especially before going to the guild. Never, _ever_ would she go to the guild feeling like this. Not if she had any say in it at all, no matter how little. Besides, it was already quite late, as she had been so late going to bed, so maybe she should just stay at home for today and wait for the following day.

Thinking about it, how late was it _really_? She dropped the clean clothes in the bathroom before moving to look out of the window. Since she had landed on the ground and so on, she hadn't really thought to look at the clock or through the window to check the time. Unexpectedly the streetlights were actually on already and twilight was settling over Magnolia.

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe it's already this late…" She mumbled to herself. She didn't even glance at the clock, afraid of what it might say, as she moved back to the bathroom.

She quickly unclothed herself, staring at the remaining, white bandages. She made quick work of removing said bandages. After her last mission with those bandits, she had become quite deft with bandages after all. She quickly found that the scrapes and smaller injuries she'd gotten from the building crashing down around her - after all she and the other two had been lucky with that. A large part of the roof fell down and landed in a way where it left a lot of space for the four of them, and also shielding them against what smaller pieces of the building - had actually more or less healed. The worst of the injuries were just lightly reddened spots on her skin.

Speaking of, hadn't that been a little quicker than usual? Even the smaller wounds from the previous mission had taken a pair of days or so to heal to this point, if she remembered correctly. But now, these only took one trip to and from Earth and then that was that. So did the healing go faster than before?

She didn't know, and neither did she how she was going to spend the rest of the evening. She dropped the bandages into the little trash can beside the toilet, being done with them. She turned on the water and didn't have to wait even a second before stepping under the hot water.

To spend all the time she had left before she should go back to bed again she could… Well, it _had_ been a while since she had paid her novel any attention. And she would probably have to go shopping too. And she should probably write a letter to her Mama, reassuring her she was okay.

Oh! And she had to talk to- She shouldn't think about his name, otherwise he would just pop up out of the blue. That had happened once before when she had taken a bath and the success didn't need to be repeated. But she needed to thank him though, he had helped her throughout the mission against Oración Seis. He and her other Spirits.

Actually, she should probably call Erza to hear how everything had turned out with Wendy and Carla. The two of them had stayed with the redhead for the night, as they didn't have anywhere else to stay. She just wanted to hear how the young girl and her winged cat were doing and if they'd found out where they were going to stay. If nothing had been figured out, she could probably also find some mattresses and some space in her own home.

Speaking of Dragon Slayers, she wondered how Natsu - and now also Gray - were doing on top of the other day. Obviously they didn't heal 'naturally' as fast as she did, and Wendy hadn't had enough magic left from the battles and smashing the Lacrima. And even if she did, Carla wouldn't have allowed it, she was a rather strict cat after all.

Either way, she knew her two boys were strong, so it probably wouldn't be too bad. Besides, some of the times they beat each other up it seemed they would not rise the next day. But, against all odds, they always did. So yeah, she wasn't too worried about them.

Erza, she knew, would be perfectly fine. Physically, that was. Whether she had come to terms with Jellal having lost his memory and seemingly reverted to the boy she had been familiar with as a child was another story. However, Lucy _had_ heard the way her otherwise stoic friend blushed pink when the blue haired (ex?)criminal smiled back at her, her last name, the one _he_ had given her, falling from his lips. Yes, she had seen that with a bright - and very much knowing - smile on her face. It had even been clear her friend held _some_ sort of feeling towards the other side of Jellal, ever since the two of them were children stuck in the Tower of Heaven.

Yup, her friend had definitely had a crush on that guy forever.

Just like how Gajeel and Levy were so frustratingly visibly attracted to each other. It almost physically hurt her to watch them, perhaps unknowingly, flirting with each other constantly, yet nothing was happening. They were so perfect for each other, but also so, so different. They were the ones who made her certain that the saying 'opposites attract' actually wasn't just something someone made up on a whim as he watched a magnet.

Besides that, she wondered how long it would be till the Iron Dragon Slayer began teaching her some combat instead of just the running and the small exercises they were doing right now. She wasn't trying to sound bratty or anything like that, she really appreciated what Gajeel was doing for her and the time he took to do it. She knew what she was doing right now was essential for a good combatant, bad physique meant bad fighting-skills. One had to be strong, agile, and have reflexes which could help one. Flexibility would also be a plus in it all. She understood all that.

But at the same time, it was also important to know the basic moves of combat. She _had_ to know how to put up a strong guard and deliver a precise punch. How to proportionate her body just right to deliver the strongest kick, which parts of her body could handle blows the best. How to dodge and deflect, create openings and seizing said openings. She had to learn to develop reflexes, so she could quickly see and take action against an approaching blow. She needed to could use her flexibility - she knew she had some, what with all the dance-lessons she took at the Konzern - effectively in battle. Not to mention being able to coordinate attacks with someone else and being adaptable.

All that was what she wanted and needed to learn to fight the people she had to fight. Future enemies Fairy Tail were certain to have, even those day-to-day missions. She needed to be able to fight so well, she wouldn't get horrible injuries or torn up clothes. But even before that, she would have to fight so well she didn't pass out.

Strong enough to could take care of herself.

So she wasn't a burden on her team or the rest of Fairy Tail. So she could also contribute in big fights, so she shouldn't always rely on everyone else. So… So people could begin relying on her, for once.

Lucy first now realized she'd automatically finished the bath, dressed herself, combed her hair and had placed herself by the table, pulling the box containing letters, both written and unwritten, to her Mama as well as quill and ink. She preferred writing with this, as it looked much more beautiful, but also because her Mama had taught her how to write with it properly.

She knew she was probably clinging a little bit to the past, in the form of these letters. But it was her own alternative form for a diary. The only difference was that instead to writing to someone unknown or the book itself, she chose to write to a certain person, her mother. Although lately she had been bad at writing a letter daily. Really, it was since she joined Fairy Tail. There was always something happening with Fairy Tail, a danger lurking in the night, who would show his or her face any day. But even if there wasn't, there were always missions they would go on, harder and harder as they got stronger and stronger. With this knowledge at the back of her head, writing a letter every day could be hard.

However, the days she did take the time to write her 'diary' were always the best. Where she could just pour her heart and thoughts out on paper. Those days were always wonderful. Unknowingly, the burden of not having put her thoughts and feelings to word on paper always only increased in weight as time passed. Just pressing down on her shoulders and mind as a phantom, growing rock. She at least wrote to her mother thrice a week, except if she and Team Natsu had gone on an extended mission or anything else showed up that somehow kept her from it.

She quickly addressed the battles, described much more detailed the part of the match against Angel she remembered, going to Kozo's, returning to Earthland and being told she had actually beaten the Oración Seis member herself, her, Gray and Loke's trek to and in the heart of Nirvana, and most importantly their run-in with Zero when it came to that. How terrified she'd been and how easily she had been blasted by him. Then she also told her about Hibiki figuring out how to beat Nirvana, and then following his plan, leading to their victory and the truth about Wendy's guild. Next she complained about Natsu telling and retelling (and retelling and retelling and retelling) his battles against Cobra and Zero in the train, driving everyone near, including their new member, insane. Then she told about the more than exciting match between the Teiko team and the Ryoma and of course, the outcome.

She'd written about Earth before, also asking her why she had never told Lucy about Earth before then - because, if any, her mother would be the first to go to Earth. As far as Lucy was concerned, her Mama's kindness knew no boundaries - and she had told her mother about the wonderful team of boys and girl she had met and quickly become friends with.

She folded the letter neatly and put it down in an envelope, before returning it to the box, and the box to its rightful place. She fell back on her soft bed, reminding herself what she had to do today, before going back to Earth once again, getting back in rhythm again. Grocery shopping and calling Erza. That was it.

She smiled as she went up, checking her fridge and making a quick list of what she needed. Surprisingly, she could already feel exhaustion knocking on the door, even though it was such a short time ago she had slept, she was already tired. Well, it wasn't surprising considering what she had gone through. Her body was all rested up, but her mind needed a little more time. And that, it would get. Later on, of course.

She grabbed the list, fastened the belt around her hips, containing her wallet, and went out of the door, grocery shopping.

 **Earth~**

Lucy felt a gentle prod at her shoulder, but didn't open her eyes to check who or what it was, only mumbled a drowsy complaint.

However, when it began speaking, she couldn't ignore it completely. "Lucy-san. Please wake up." She heard a quite familiar voice said.

With a barely contained groan, Lucy began blinking to clear her vision. At first, all she saw was… Nothing. Which told her exactly who it was. Her suspicions were only confirmed when she blinked once, focused her blurry sight as well as she could, and saw the characteristic blob of sky-blue hair above a pale face and a pair of cerulean eyes. "Kuroko…" She muttered.

"Oi! Wake up already." She heard another, similarly familiar, voice tell her.

With this, her sights cleared, and she realized she was lying on a very, very bad surface, which was in no way at all built for lying, seating or anything of the sort and never had been. However, as she sat up, she came face-to-face with the only two blue-haired boys she knew. Personally anyway. "Aomine." She stated.

Aomine grinned at her. "Sleepy-you honestly has the worst taste in beds." He told her. Kuroko only nodded in agreement.

Finally she looked down at what she was sitting at, recognizing the metal bars she was sitting on to be what made up the cage holding the basketballs. "Oh… Sorry." She muttered before gliding down from it and landing a bit unsteadily on her feet.

Kuroko watched her clumsy descent and landing with masked worry. It wasn't like her to be clumsy in that way. "Are you feeling all right, Lucy-san?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She yawned. "I'm just tired." She reassured him. She took a step away from the cage, so the two boys could get to the basketballs. "You don't give training a rest, huh?" She asked as she forced down her tiredness.

Aomine grinned at her as he played the ball around between his hands. "Of course not. I can't stop if I want to be the best!" He said as the other two also grabbed a ball for themselves as they all went towards the empty court.

Kuroko glanced at Lucy. "I believe I may have found a style of my own…" He trailed off.

Lucy turned to him with a big, yet surprised, smile. "You did?" She asked him quite eagerly, excited and happy on his behalf. When she got a nod, she smiled just a bit wider. "Well, tell us about it!" She urged, getting an agreeing nod from Aomine as well. He, of course, also knew Kuroko had been searching for his own style of playing.

Aomine grinned at the fellow blue-haired basketball player. "Even better, show it." He suggested, to which Lucy agreed completely.

Kuroko shook his head. "I have not yet practiced it, it is still only and idea." He told them, dampening - especially Aomine's - spirits a bit. "However, I guess I can share the idea I have." He offered, and so they urged him to. "I got the idea when watching the game yesterday." He said and turned to Aomine. "It was that play Haizaki-san and you made." He said.

Aomine and Haizaki had, at the end of the game, played together, Haizaki had charged towards the hoop with the ball, but when he got blocked - which he had counted on - he threw the ball to Aomine, who had sneaked around at the edge of the court, out of sight for anyone.

They both remembered it and nodded for him to continue. "When Haizaki-san was dribbling the ball, he drew all the attention to himself, allowing Aomine-san to reach the net unnoticed. He distracted the opponents. Misdirected their attention. That is the idea, misdirection." Kuroko explained. And it was probably the longest Lucy had ever heard him speak.

Lucy thought about what he said for a short moment, before nodding. "I see how that would work." She said thoughtfully and smiled at him. "You have no presence at all, so you can easily slip past people. Apart from that, you're also really quick. If you can make it work, I think it would turn out to be something really special." She reassured him.

"Thank you, Luc-" Kuroko started, before being cut off.

"I believe you may be quite right about that, Lucy." A familiar voice agreed. They all turned to see Akashi and Midorima approaching them. Akashi had his gaze directed at Kuroko. "You must be the person Lucy and Aomine have been talking about for a while now." He stated matter-of-factly, not even doubting his rightness. Of course, he was also right. He offered his hand for a handshake. "I am Seijuro Akashi from 1st string and this is Shintaro Midorima." He said, introducing the both of them.

Kuroko gaze never faltered as he looked at Akashi. Who was not tuning down his air of pride at being a 1st string player or the authoritativeness he naturally held all the time at all. Quite the opposite, actually. He had probably turned it up a few notches.

However Kuroko remained unaffected as he took the offered hand and shook it. "Hello, I'm Tetsuya Kuroko." He introduced himself.

Akashi nodded. "I see." He said. A slight tension hang in the completely silent room for a moment, before the redhead turned around abruptly. "Should you make this misdirection style work, report to me and I'll see whether you can be accepted on our team." He declared before leaving the gym, Midorima trailing after him.

The three people, who remained in the room, were left in an awkward silence. They all stared at each other. "Well that was weird." Lucy finally commented, breaking the silence. Kuroko nodded in agreement.

Aomine grinned widely. "Oi, what'a'ya say we help you do this 'misdirection' or whatever? It'd be awesome if you were on our team!" He suggested.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll help you." She told Kuroko.

Kuroko's gaze alternated between the two of them, his expression forever unchanged. "Thank you, I would appreciate that." Kuroko finally said, making the other two smile brightly. "But not today." He then added, tearing the smiles down again as quickly as they had appeared.

Aomine grossed his arms, somehow holding the ball with one hand. How, Lucy didn't know. "What do you mean, Tetsu?" He asked his friend. They - or rather Aomine - had already reached past first-name basis and onwards to nickname-basis. After all, they had been training together for some time.

Kuroko stared at Aomine for a moment, making the taller guy a little uncomfortable, before answering. "I haven't developed a style yet." He admitted bluntly.

Lucy looked at him with an incredulous expression. "…. What?" She asked him. Hadn't he just said he had a moment ago?

Kuroko shook his head, as if answering her silent question. "I never said I developed the style, only that I had an idea. I have not done any research yet." He stated.

The blonde smiled and shook her head. Somehow that was just so… Kuroko. But she also knew it would be very 'Kuroko' if he after this, went to the library and researched it, developing his own style. "Well, whenever you're ready we're there to help you." She said, glancing at Aomine for confirmation.

The blue-haired boy nodded. "Yeap! We're at your disposal, Tetsu!" He confirmed.

Kuroko looked at the both of them. For a moment Lucy thought he would actually make an expression, but then he twirled the ball in his hands. "I will be sure to take advantage of that when the time comes." He promised them, probably purposely using those words to make them doubt their decision. "Now, shall we get started?" He asked them.

They both nodded and followed Kuroko out at the middle of the court. Lucy was actually a little bit disappointed she didn't get to see Kuroko with any expression today either. It had been such a good chance too!

She sighed out loud, drawing Aomine's attention to her. When he saw her expression, he laughed. "You expect too much of him, Heartfilia." He told her, only grinning wider at the nickname he used. He knew she hated when he used it.

One day, when all three were training together, Aomine had asked Lucy why she'd introduced herself to them, asking them to use her first name rather than her last. She explained that it was because she had come from a somewhat wealthy family - a bit of an understatement, huh? - and had always been called 'Lady Heartfilia', 'Miss Heartfilia', 'Young mistress Heartfilia', none had used her first name, not even her father. So, she wanted them to use her first name.

And so, Aomine had found his favorite method of teasing the blonde. And it worked every time.

Lucy glared up at Aomine. "Stop that, you know I hate it!" She said, her arms crossed to the best of her ability with the big, orange ball in her hand.

Aomine simply grinned at her triumphantly. "Yeah, why do you think I keep using it, Heartfilia?" He asked her.

"Aomine, stop teasing Lucy." Kuroko commented from the side. This wasn't the first time he heard this conversation. Actually, he had heard it so many times already he knew what they would say before they did.

Lucy glared at the taller boy, the both of them completely ignoring Kuroko's plea. "Stop it before I hurt you." She threatened him.

Aomine crouched a little, so he was at the same height as the blonde. There was something like 10 centimeters between them, so it actually was some. "Uhhh, I'm so scared of little Miss Heartfilia." He taunted her.

Lucy's glare only intensified when she felt her inner demon self rearing its head. Without a second of hesitation, Lucy brought one foot up only to stamp it right back down, over Aomine's foot. The boy howled in pain. "I _told_ you not to tease me, _Daisuki-chan_." She said with the overly sweet voice Mira had mastered to the fullest and smiled innocently. It worked quite well, Lucy found.

Aomine tore his foot back from under hers and directed his glare at the blonde. "Don't call me that." He ordered her.

Lucy smiled, now a bit smugly. "Daisuki-chan, Daisuki-chan, Daisuki-chan, Daisuki-chan, Daisuki-chan~" She almost sang with that bitter-sweet tone.

Aomine took a step forward, while Lucy didn't back away, so the two stood face to face, quite close. "Watch what you say, Heartfilia." He warned her.

Lucy didn't even grin up at him. "Want to make something of it, Daisuki-chan?" She asked him threateningly.

Aomine narrowed his eyes at her. "You'd never stand a chance." He told her.

Before Lucy could reply, a ball hit Aomine's head, making him stumble to the side. "Aomine, that's not something you tell a girl." Kuroko told him expressionlessly.

While Lucy was more or less rolling on the floor in laughter at Aomine's hilarious expression, said guy had turned to the smaller boy a little away. "Oi! Tetsu! What the hell was that?!" He asked him, fake anger concealing his amusement from view.

Kuroko just deadpanned at Aomine. "You took too long." He told him, picked up the ball and threw it at his head again. "You still are."

That made Aomine splutter in both surprise and anger, as it had hit, not the side of his head, but straight on. Meanwhile Lucy's stomach was beginning to cramp and her jaw hurt at how much she was laughing. There was never a dull moment with these guys.

 **Okay… That was weird, as Lucy put it.  
Yeah, I know, this chapter has come out a bit awkwardly, but I was suffering from a severe case of writer's block and just wrote something, and it turned out to be this. And that's also why it isn't as long as it should have been, but what the hell. **

**I know Kuroko was a bit OOC in this chapter, very much so at the beginning. But as it processed and I got used to his character, it kind of went in the direction of being Kuroko… Right?**

 **Anyway, so I hope you liked the little 'fight' Lucy and Aomine had. And the name-calling. On Lucy's side. 'Daisuki-chan'. In case you were confused, 'Daisuki' means 'I love' or 'I like'. It just popped up one day when I coincidentally called Aomine for Daisuki Aomine instead of Daiki Aomine, and then I figured I might as well put it to use. And really, if the meaning behind 'Daisuki' wasn't enough to irritate Aomine, then the femininity of the word would instead XD**

 **So yep, some Kuroko-time, some Aomine-time, some Kuroko-Aomine-time, some Lucy-Aomine-Kuroko-time and some Lucy-all-alone-time.**

 **Hope it came out okay and thanks to all who reviewed, favorited, followed and last but not least read! You're the reason I can continue this story! - Just to get real sappy over here.**

 **Honestly though, if it hadn't been because I knew you guys were waiting so patiently for this, this chapter would've never been written ._."**

 **~Line464d**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Well, let's see what's, mmm, up my sleeve this time around, hmm?  
Also, we reached 170 reviews! Thank you guys! You are all incredible! As well as somewhere along the way, 110 favorites and 120 followers!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Well… As you might expect, I'm really running outta things to say up here… I don't own Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. Not even a fraction of it T^T**

 **Earthland~**

With a smile on her face, Lucy closed the door to her home behind her and pulled out the silver key containing probably her most adorable Spirit. Plue, of course!

She swiped the key as usual and did the familiar incantation, before the little, white Spirit appeared beside her with a golden flash of light. "Puuuuunn~!" It greeted her, sending her a shaky smile. Of sorts.

Lucy didn't even try to keep back her squeal as she picked up the little adorable creature and gently patted it as she made it down the staircase. As she always did when she went to the guild, she jumped up on the ledge and balanced on it easily with Plue in her arms.

Also, as per usual, the men in the boat called out to her. "Good morning, Lucy!" They greeted her, to which she replied with a wave and her bright smile. "Now watch out so you don't fall down!" They warned her.

Lucy laughed. "Don't worry! You know I can keep my balance by now!" She called back. The men just replied to this with laughs as the two 'groups' went each of their ways. Lucy to the guild and those two to wherever they were going.

As soon as the blonde girl reached the guild, she dispelled Plue and sent him back to the Spirit World. When she opened the doors she found the guild already bustling with life. Of course, she had, by accident, also stayed up way too late last night, as she'd gotten caught up in writing her novel. When she suddenly looked up and at the clock it was 1:30 am. So, after that she went to bed quite quickly.

Which naturally also resulted in her waking up quite late. 11:20 am or so. So many would have been up for a long time already. And, as she had expected, tables and chairs were already being throw around all over the place. But Lucy was used to this, so weaving between the thrown objects weren't too difficult for her.

So, she easily made her way to the counter - a little bit easier than usual thanks to the training with Gajeel and at Earth - where Mira was calmly polishing glasses as if the fight going on right in front of her didn't bother her at all.

It probably didn't.

Lucy smiled at the barmaid and put a few jewels on the counter. "The usual please." She said, glanced at Gajeel, who was currently not looking in her direction, and smiled a bit wider at Mira. "With strawberry of course."

Mira laughed a little, feminine laugh, the kind which only she could do. There were actually a lot of things only Mira could do… "I won't tell Gajeel if you don't." She said and winked to Lucy. "Actually I already had it prepared." She said, put the tall glass with the deliciously pink liquid-ish drink and a straw on the desk as she pushed the jewels back to the blonde again. "It's on the house." She smiled.

Lucy was just about to protest, but quickly figured it'd be futile against Mira and relented with smiling thankfully at the white-haired woman. "Thank you Mira." She thanked her.

Mira shook her head as she picked up the overly polished glass again. "Don't mention it, after the dangerous mission you went on, and fighting the fights you fought and won, you deserve it." She said and leaned in over the counter towards the blonde, the glass completely forgotten again. "Also, there's a handsome guy asking for you." She said with an unnerving sly smile on her lips and gestured to one of the tables in the guild. She did love matchmaking after all.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and turned towards the table, wondering who it could be. She followed the direction of the pointed finger Mira offered her and found Erza's table. Which seemed to have some magical barrier around it, where the tables and chairs wouldn't enter. Of course, it was simply that the guild members knew not to disturb Erza while she was eating her cake. And while she was eating her cake peacefully, an - as Mira said - handsome guy trembled in fear, eyeing every table and whatever else came flying within a meter's radius, almost flinching when they came a little close. Of course, this didn't exactly let him keep his charm and masculinity much. It didn't help that Wendy also sat at the table, completely at peace with what was going on around her, as if she had already adjusted to it. More like she had probably already figured out sitting with Erza gave her peace from the fighting. She was a clever, little girl.

Lucy giggled at the sight, it was quite comical actually. Of course, she also recognized the guy. She turned back to Mira again, a smile of amusement on her face and twinkling in her eyes. "That's just Hibiki." She giggled and grabbed the milkshake. "Thank you again, Mira."

The barmaid simply waved and smiled at her, although with hearts in her eyes and a faint whisper of 'Blonde haired, black eyes babies! Honey haired, brown eyes babies!' which made the blonde shudder.

Nonetheless, she easily approached the only remaining table actually touching the ground for a longer period of time, none of the flying objects even close to hitting her. "Hibiki!" She called halfway through, waving at the Blue Pegasus mage, who looked in her direction as she called. She finally reached the safe-zone and placed herself on a chair next to him. "You were asking for me?" She inquired.

Hibiki nodded and gave her another of his dazzling smiles, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips, never breaking eye contact with her. Even though she had been… In training with this at the Konzern, she never really got used to it and would always blush, just like she was now.

He didn't even release her hand when he had 'greeted' her, just lowered it and clasped it in both of his. "Indeed I was. I have been wanting to talk with you since… Well since you scaled Nirvana actually." He admitted. "However let me first tell you I'm impressed you have the patience and courage to deal with all of this." He said and gestured to the grand fight all around him.

Lucy smiled at him, a pink blush dusting her cheeks. After all, it wasn't exactly the treatment she was used to from the guys in her guild. "Thank you, Hibiki. It's easier when you get used to it." She reassured him.

Hibiki nodded. "I don't doubt it would." He said and sent her a smile.

Suddenly the blue, winged cat landed on the table. "You liiiiiiiiiiiiike him~" He sang teasingly, as he always did.

Lucy sent him a glare and turned to Hibiki. "Should we go somewhere less crowded?" She asked him, flicking Happy's head and making him tumble backwards.

Hibiki glanced at Happy with an amused smile, before nodding at Lucy. "Yes, let's do that." He agreed. They both stood up almost simultaneously and Hibiki gently put a handon her elbow, faking the image of being a gentleman guiding a lady out, while Lucy knew it was because he figured he'd get out safer if he did that. She didn't care though, she was exactly the same around Erza in the beginning, since Natsu and Gray usually were the center of fights.

They both safely made it out of the guild and to the nearest bench right outside the building and sat down on it.

Lucy turned to the host next to her, now finally free of the bane of her existence - Happy - and the rest of her _quite_ noisy guild. "So, Hibiki, what did you want to talk about?" She asked him curiously.

Hibiki nodded. "Right." He reached into his blazer and pulled out a long, rectangular, velvet box in all black. "I came to give you this." He said and held it out to her as if what was inside it was pure glass. And maybe it was, she really had no idea at all.

She looked up from the box to him curiously. "What is it?" She asked as she carefully took the box from his hands, treating it as gently as he had.

He smiled. "Open it and you'll see." He said and sent her a mysterious expression.

Lucy glanced up at him for a moment before turning to the box. She slowly pried it open, both so curious she wanted to tear it up without hesitation, but at the same time, she was nervous of what it could be. Or maybe something would spring up from it when she opened it…

However, it was no prank or trap, it was genuine. That, she realized when four points of objects she had become so familiar with, she couldn't live without them, caught her sight and that was then she let it fall open completely, revealing them to be something so, so precious.

Four Celestial keys.

Her hands flew up to her mouth and her eyes watered quickly when she recognized the first three, golden keys. Gemini, Scorpio and Aries. Sorano's keys. One hand left her face and instead gently traced the carvings in the beautifully shining keys.

She didn't have to look up at Hibiki for him to explain, he knew she wanted some sort of explanation. "After you used Urano Metria and beat Angel, she fell into the water and began drifting with the stream. However Leo saved her in the last moment and hauled her onto the ground. But then you began falling down, following in Angel's footsteps. Those three appeared and caught you before you could hurt yourself." He told her. Her heart warmed at the kindness they showed towards a master who was their enemy. And likewise with Loke's. "You quickly went to Earth after that and Aries and Scorpio disappeared, leaving Gemini back. The two turned to me, three keys in their hands. They told me to safeguard these keys until everything had passed and give them to you. And no one else, they said, only you. With that, they left as well, back to rest." He explained, a soft smile on his lips at her strong reaction.

Lucy looked up at him, her eyes glistening in the light from her tears. "But why?" She asked with a trembling voice. "Why me?" She asked him.

Hibiki smiled at her uncertainty with herself, yet confused where she found it from. "Why shouldn't they?" He replied with a question. "You showed them your kindness and compassion towards your Spirits, and Gemini also that you had the same feelings towards Spirits that weren't even yours." He put a hand on her back, gently caressing her in hopes of calming her down a bit. "You showed Gemini that what you posses is true kindness, not just for what is yours and what you know." He said with a smile.

Lucy smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Hibiki." She said, and looked back at the box where the three keys lay next to each other. Her gaze travelled to the third key, which was a silver one. At first she didn't recognize it at all, but then she remembered one of the many books she had studied at the Konzern when she had practiced her magic and wanted to learn more about it. 'The Lost keys'. It was a funny book, one of those which updated itself as time passed and new information came. Or in this case, a key became 'Lost'.

The Lost keys were the keys which, as the name implied, had gotten the status of being 'Lost'. To get this status, the constellation of a key disappeared from the sky. That could be because of the technology of mankind developing, for example adding street-lights. The more light there was in the world, the more stars would disappear. Of course, if you went to, say, a wide-open field with no street-lights in kilometers' radius, then many more stars would be visible, but even then some would have disappeared. That could disrupt the constellations, as a star would have disappeared. Likewise, if a star exploded, burned up or disappeared any other way, it could also disrupt a constellation. And as such, the constellation would 'disappear'. So, no more keys of that constellation would be produced and only those who were already in the possession of mages would remain on Earth, the rest would be pulled back to the Spirit World. Which made them extremely rare.

Kozo's two keys, Daemon and Angelis, had also become 'Lost' keys. Lucy couldn't exactly remember when, but she was pretty certain it was long ago.

This key, the fourth in the box was a key, which had gotten the status of being 'Lost'. It was round at the handle, but with a single triangle standing sticking up into the air from it. At the point there was a sun with thick rays of sun, which looked more like flames licking around the circle. It didn't take Lucy long to decipher which key it was.

Solarium, the Sundial. It was a key which had been lost decades ago and had magic similar to 'Arc of Time' magic, also a lost magic. Generally most of the magic including time had become Lost, as it was a dangerous thing to tamper with. Anyway, it could either turn time forward for an inanimate object or it could turn it backwards. That meant sending it into the future or back to the present and decide by itself how quickly that process should go. But only for inanimate objects, object without life of its own.

And… Hibiki gave it to her. Just like that. Such a powerful key, and he just gave it to her. Just like that. Where had he gotten it from…?

"You know, Lucy." He said, drawing her attention back from the key. She saw him leaning back on the bench, looking up at the slowly passing clouds. "Seeing your reaction towards the three keys of Angel's, I know giving you the last one was a good decision." He told her mysteriously.

Lucy tore her gaze and fingers away from the beautiful, silver key and looked up at the Pegasus next to her with a confused expression. "What are you talking about, Hibiki?" She asked him.

He looked down at her. "Well, that key wasn't originally mine, of course. I could never use it." He said. "It belonged to this… Person I once knew. She gave it to me once, before she went on that mission. She said she wouldn't have any use for it, and told me to keep it until she returned." He explained. Lucy already knew who he was talking about, but decided not to mention it for now. "That was her last mission, she died during it and the keys she had brought with her disappeared. Well, until the other day." He finally added, wanting her to find out who it was.

Lucy smiled at him. "Solarium was Karen's, wasn't it?" She asked him. She already knew the answer, but still felt it right to ask. When he nodded, she reached out to comfort him instead. She lightly placed her hand on his arm. "I know giving me Solarium and Aries especially was a hard task for you. And I really appreciate it." She told him, watching as his expression continued to soften as she spoke. "I promise I will take good care of them and won't let them fall into unsuited hands." She promised him.

Hibiki, not knowing what else to do, took the hand from his arm and gave it a light kiss, before once again holding it between both of his own. "Thank you, Lucy. That would make me happy." He told her with a smile.

Just like she would with any other of her friends, she reached over to him and pulled him in for a hug, making sure the box wouldn't slide off her lap in the meantime. She felt him tense in surprise, before relaxing and returning it. "I'm the one who should thank you, my family just grew with four members." She stated honestly.

When they pulled back again, Lucy gently closed the velvet box again, opting to make the contracts with the Spirits at a later point in time. She could hardly wait though, so she might complete them once Hibiki had left…

Speaking of the devil, he cut her thoughts short. "Before I leave, there is one more thing." He told her, stopping her before she could get up.

She turned to the Pegasus and looked curiously at him. "Oh? What is it?" She asked him, tilting her head without thinking much about it.

"I want to show you something." He said and placed two fingers on each of her temples. "It's from my perspective, in case you should be confused." He told her, before a golden glow illuminated his fingers and he closed his eyes.

Lucy gasped as a vision filtered into her mind.

 _ **Hibiki's Vision~**_

 _Hibiki nodded a little nod to Leo, before he adopted a crazy expression and lunged out into the water, taking a somewhat tight grip around Lucy's delicate neck. Just so it seemed realistic to Angel._

" _Hibiki…" She muttered. Her voice was strained and filled with fear of what he guessed was her thinking he had fallen to Nirvana. He was close, he admitted that, but seeing her fighting for Spirits which weren't her own had helped him conquer it._

 _When Angel began cackling about him having fallen to Nirvana, he leaned in towards the blonde. "Lucy, this will help you." He reassured her, hoping she'd understand that he wasn't under Nirvana's control._

 _He quickly guided his magic out through his fingers and into the blonde, who suddenly fell a little sluggishly where she sat, surrounding them in loading-bars, which marked how far in the process they were._

 _He moved his hands to the blonde's head, as the other Celestial mage spluttered in anger. "I'm going to use my Archive to give you the data of a top-level spell!" He told her, feeling his magic transfer said data to her._

" _Why, you…!" Angel raged. "CAELUM!" She said as the Spirit stood on the ground as a sentry gun. "TAKE THEM OUT!" She ordered it, but it only buzzed in disobedience. A long rant of curses fell from her, but Hibiki paid it no mind._

 _In that moment, the transfer completed and all the bars disappeared in a pop. "It's up to you…" He said and felt himself falling backwards with the sudden depletion of his magic. It was an incredibly strong spell he had just transferred after all. "Lucy…" He said as he continued to fall. However before he fell under the water, he was caught by someone. He looked back at the person who had protected him from drowning and quickly recognized it. "Leo." He stated in a thankful way. However, the Lion's attention wasn't on him at all. He was looking straight forward, his eyes shining with pride, but also something much more tender._

 _Hibiki followed his gaze to the blonde who had now begun the spell._

 _She was still sitting in the position she had when he had fallen, sitting on her legs and her head tipped backwards with closed eyes. The only thing which convinced him of her being conscious, was the magic swirling in the air all around her and her muttering the spell of Urano Metria._

" _Survey the Heavens, open the Heavens… All the stars, far and wide… Show me thy appearance… With such shine." She slowly muttered, almost whispered. Yet her voice carried through the area clearly. Her golden hair whipped around her in the strong gusts of wind like a halo. "O Tetrabiblos… I am the ruler of the stars… Aspect become complete… Open thy malevolent gate."_

 _The water around the blonde began to rise into the air naturally, all the water in the river obeyed to Lucy's power and spell. Small orbs of golden light appeared around Angel, shining brighter and brighter, adopting colors as they grew in both size and light._

 _While Angel was furious with the globes which continued to grow in number and size around her, Lucy resumed the incantation unaffected by her surroundings. "Oh 88 Stars of the Heavens…" She said, her eyes still closed shut. Until she whipped them open, staring at her opponent with golden, shining eyes instead of the usual warm, brown orbs. "Shine!" Her voice rung even clearer in the area. Her magic shone around her, enveloping her in a golden glow, making her several times more beautiful than she had been before. In that moment, she was probably the most beautiful girl- no,_ woman _he had seen in his entire life. "URANO METRIA!" She yelled, spreading her arms out wide and arching her back as her magic exploded around her and Angel._

 _Everything around them turned completely black, like the night's sky. The previous orbs of glowing lights had grown and expanded into planets and stars, all around Angel. The water around the blonde had risen and left Lucy to sit completely revealed in front of them, as probably the most magnificent magic any of them present - perhaps with the exception of Leo - had ever seen played out before them, in a single, last attack against Angel._

 _The Oración Seis mage had been lifted into the air in the assault and fell down with the water, her clothes ripped to shreds and showcasing her wounded and marred skin and generally very roughed up appearance. She fell down into the water, which was now streaming violently after the disturbance. But, lucky for her, Leo had already been prepared for this and saved her from the waterfall a little ahead._

 _However, while Angel was saved, Lucy finally fell backwards, just as he had, having exhausted all of her remaining magic in that one spell. Hibiki knew he couldn't even get to his feet in the state he was in and Leo hadn't seen her, he was busy saving the opponent of his mistress. Ironic, really._

 _Hibiki knew he couldn't stand, but if he didn't Lucy would quite likely die, so he forced his legs to obey him and carry his weight. But they were about as stubborn as he was at the moment as they buckled under him and dropped him back into the water's edge at the same time she did. Only he had something to grab onto. "LUCY!" He yelled, finally getting the Lion's attention to his soon drowning summoner. He had already pulled Angel up on the ground, so even as he almost threw her out of his arms to get to Lucy, she wouldn't flow down the river. However, no matter how quick Leo was, the swift and forceful water would get her over the edge of the waterfall before he could reach her._

 _The two men could only watch as the blonde flowed down the river. Just as they lost all hope, three golden lights erupted around the blonde. And just like that, the three Zodiac Spirits of Angel's appeared and caught Lucy. Aries, with a wall of wool to stop her journey, Gemini transformed into Hoteye, shielding the blonde against the stream of the water as Scorpio easily picked her up and carried her towards the river-bank. However, mid-stride the girl disappeared from the Scorpion's arms, as if she was a Spirit herself._

 **Present~**

Lucy's eyes widened as she took in the events of the last moments of her fight against Angel and Hibiki pulled back his hands from her. She leaned back, not even able to respond to what she had just seen.

It was like she knew exactly what was going to happen before it did, but at the same time, she didn't have a single clue either. Everything she had just seen was both entirely new to her, but also completely familiar with it. There was no doubt she had experienced this, although perhaps in a half-conscious state. It all seemed like a memory of a dream. Foggy, but still there.

"You were beautiful, Lucy." Hibiki reassured her. She looked over to him, still with wide, confused eyes. "You defeated Angel with much more grace than I thought possible, despite you being beaten up." He told her.

She smiled at him, still taking in what she had just seen. "Thanks for showing me, Hibiki. I didn't even know I needed that, but I did." She admitted.

Hibiki smiled to her in return. "It was my pleasure." He told her. "Besides, then I had a reason to meet up with a beautiful woman such as you and watching those cute expressions pass over your flawless face." He said, once again back to his host personality.

Lucy giggled and shook her head. "Well, a win-win situation then, huh?" She asked jokingly.

However, the Pegasus nodded. "Indeed it was." He agreed. With a little jump, he set off from the bench and stood up next to it, offering Lucy a hand to get up. Which she gratefully accepted and got up, standing next to the other mage. "Well, Lucy, it was wonderful to see you again, I certainly hope it won't be the last time." He said with the dazzling smile of someone who had practiced it time and time again.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that makes two of us." She told him.

Hibiki bowed lightly to her with a hand behind his back and one at front, and looked into her eyes again as he straightened up. "Until next time, Miss Lucy." He said with a kind of smirk. Either he knew she didn't like that nickname, or he just thought himself funny.

As he had already done twice in the duration of their conversation, Hibiki reached out to, once again, give her hand a kiss in farewell, however she was quick on her toes and jumped in, giving him a short hug. She quickly made a pirouette around and looked back at Hibiki over her shoulder. "Yeah, until next time Hibiki." She said and waved at him as they both went their separate ways, each with a smile on their lips.

Before Lucy entered the guild, she looked down at the box in her hands, deciding to wait till she came home, before making the contracts. She walked into the guild, aiming to put the box into her bag, so she wouldn't forget it when she decided it was about time to go home.

However… She didn't get far into the building before a certain barmaid called out to her. "Lucy! What happened to Hibiki? Did he go? Tell me what happened!" She rambled on, almost actually leaving the bar. Lucy giggled and shook her head amusedly and approached the barmaid, already prepared to being forced to tell the white haired woman all about what had happened, either willingly or not. She placed herself on her usual barstool and began explaining what had happened.

 **Later on~**

Lucy locked the door behind her and landed on the bed with a huff of exhaustion. Not only had Mira interrogated her about Hibiki and why the two of them had seemed so close - which was simply because they had fought Angel and generally been together for a long time during that mission - why he had given her those keys and why it had taken so long. And last but not least, what the smile she had been wearing when she reentered the guild again meant.

Of course, the white-haired barmaid didn't understand what a 'platonic relationship' was, so she kept reading more into everything than what was actually true.

As if that wasn't tiring enough to work with on its own mentally, she also had to be pushed to her limits physically by none other than the demon himself. Yup, Gajeel also decided Lucy had had enough rest already and should get right back to training again. Which he then forced her to do.

It wasn't too bad, actually, if she had to be honest, it only meant she was exhausted on both fronts now and really needed rest. Which she didn't even know if she got, what with her constant switching from Earthland and Earth. But there was still one last thing she needed to do before she could surrender to sleep. And the pull of Earth, she guessed.

She reached for her bag and pulled out the box containing her new keys. She'd waited long enough already, it was about time she made those contracts.

She slowly opened the box and revealed the four keys to the world again. They glittered beautifully in the moonlight entering her room through the window behind her. She took a moment to appreciate their polished surfaces glittering in the soft light, before pulling the first one in the line out. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits now! O Spirit, answer my call and pas through the Gate!" She called and let the golden key glow in a gentle, golden light.

In front of her, a similar golden light shone and brought the fluffy-haired, horned and white-dressed Ram Spirit to Earthland. "I-I'm Aries, t-the Ram of the Zo-Zodiacs! I-I'm s-sorry!" She quickly apologized to Lucy.

Lucy smiled and shook her head, finding she had finally gotten another Spirit with an eccentric personality, which wasn't too weird. Or lewd. "Hello again Aries." She greeted the Spirit. "I was hoping you'd like to become one of my Spirits and friends." She told the Ram with a smile.

Aries' eyes widened for a moment, before fading into a soft smile. "I s-see Leo fo-found a g-good mistress. I-I'm glad." She stuttered blushing.

The blonde smiled at the pinkette. "Please, I would prefer if you didn't call me 'master', 'mistress' or anything like that." She told the Spirit.

"I-I'm sorry!" Aries quickly replied and bowed to Lucy.

Lucy giggled and shook her head, gesturing for Aries to straighten her back again. "Don't worry about it, Aries." She said. "So, when will you be available?" She asked her.

Aries nodded her head. "I-I will be ava-availa-able a-at any time! I-I will t-tell you wh-when I-I'm un-unavai-ailable. I'm s-sorry!" She quickly added at the end.

Lucy smiled at her. "That sounds perfectly fine, Aries. As for your magic, it is wool, right? You can manifest it and control it, if memory serves." She said, remembering the book she had been reading about all the Zodiacs and many of the silver keys.

Aries nodded shakily, looking at Lucy with wide eyes. "Y-yes…! That's r-right." She confirmed. "I-I didn't thi-think you-you'd know… I'm sorry!" She apologized.

The blonde smiled at her. "Don't worry about it." She reassured the pinkette shaking her head. After a moment of silence, she picked up the thread again. "Well, I'm looking forward to working with you, Aries." She said, to end the conversation. And so she could complete the rest of the contracts.

Aries bowed quickly, offering her stammering goodbyes before disappearing in a flash of light. The making of Scorpio's contract passed quickly, as he had a date with Aquarius he needed to show up to. Basically he was also free at any time he wasn't on a date with Aquarius, and had Earth magic he channeled primarily through his tail.

Next came Gemini. That took a bit longer as the Spirit wanted to thank her for defeating Angel and as such letting them pass on to a new owner. After that, she had been told they had transformation magic, as she had seen, and was available at any time. If they were not, they would send someone else instead, so Lucy wouldn't be left alone.

Finally, Lucy pulled out the silver key. She took a moment to appreciate the whitish light coming from the moon fall and reflect in the key's metal, only making its carvings and edges stand out more, making it many times more beautiful than it already were. The cold light of the moon's matched best with the silver keys, whereas the gold keys looked prettier with the sun's rays. Of course, no matter which light the keys were showered in, they would always look beautiful to her. And she knew they knew that. Somewhere deep down she knew they did.

She shrugged herself out of the road of thoughts she was on her way down on, and pulled the key out. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits now! O Spirit, answer my call and pas through the Gate!" She spelled, the keys shining a golden light, letting the only Spirit of the four she had yet to see appear before her.

And, to be honest, it wasn't quite as she had expected.

In front of her stood Solarium in all of its might. As a gigantic tortoise with a sundial on its shell. It's shell and skin were two different shades of gray, the skin a darker tone than the shell, kind of making it look like stone. It looked incredibly old with the gray colors, the wrinkly skin appearing out of the worn-down shell, all of which revealed centuries of use and existence.

"Hmm… You… Who are you, mmm?" Solarium asked her with an old, croaky voice, speaking very slowly, and tilted its head a little in what Lucy guessed was confusion. Or just the head being too heavy for its old neck to support…

Lucy smiled at the old Spirit. "Hello. I'm Lucy Heartfilia and I wish to make a contract with you." She offered. An awkward silence spread between them as it didn't reply to her. "Uhm… Do you know Hibiki Lates?" She asked it hesitantly. It remained silent as it just continued to stare at her. "He was you previous master's boyfriend." She told it. Still, it didn't say anything or even twitch. "He, uh… Well while he was taking care of your key, your master went on a mission… In which she passed away…" She said slowly and hesitantly.

Still, silence lay as a thick coat over them. Finally, the old guy replied. "Hmmm… I see." He said and focused back on Lucy. "You wished to, mmm, make a contract with me? Hmm?" He asked her. His speech pattern was already tiring her out a little, what with all the other things which had been going on that day. She was running low on magic too, as a matter of fact. So, she relented with a single nod. "I'm Solarium, mmm. Pleasure to make your, hmmm, acquaintance." He introduced himself.

Lucy nodded again. "Yes, yours as well." She told him. "Now, Solarium, when will I be able to summon you?" She asked it.

This time, she got an instant reply. "Mmmm… On Sundays from 1 to 2 after my tea-break." He deadpanned. Lucy stared at him for a moment, confused with his precision for a moment, before accepting his reply. Suddenly he broke out laughing, surprising her so much her heart skipped a beat. "MHA-MHA-MHA-MHA-MHA-MHA!" He laughed loudly. "I was only, hmm, kidding. You can summon me at any time, mmm?" He said, as if asking whether that was acceptable or not.

Lucy giggled at the old tortoise and shook her head lightly. "All right, Solarium, I will remember that." She told him. "Your magic is similar to that of Arc of Time, right?" She asked him.

"Mmm, yes that's right." He confirmed for her.

Lucy nodded and looked at him and nodded. "Well, that's all I have to ask for now, actually. Is there anything you would like to add?" She asked him.

His little, almost egg-shaped head tilted to the side as he thought about that. "Hmm… Yes, there is one thing I'd like to, mmm, add." He said. "I'm not very strong in combat, hmm?" He said, this time sounding like he was asking if that was okay. "However I do, hmmm, repair items quite well." He admitted, strutting his little chest out proudly.

Lucy nodded. Yeah, since he appeared as one of the slowest animals to ever exist, she figured he probably wouldn't be the one she'd summon when she was in a tough situation of that sort. She smiled at him. "Is there anything you have in mind in particular?" She asked him.

He placed the back of his shell on the ground suddenly, making a hollow sound break the silence, as he sat down as if in protest. "Hmm… As a matter of fact, mmm, I do." He said. "In contrast to my, mmm, former master, you go to Earth, hmm?" He asked. Lucy nodded, waiting to hear what he had to say. "Mmm, I thought so." He told her. "In that case, I'll, mmm, fix your clothes in case you participate in a difficult mission, hmm?" He offered.

"You would do that for me?" She asked him. Then she wouldn't bug Hinata with it, and she didn't have to continue to feel guilty about destroying the clothes she was offered from the two of them.

The tortoise nodded. "Mmm, yes, I am. It would be my, hmmm, pleasure. You can just, mmm, send it with Virgo." He reassured her. "Now then, I believe your, hmmm, magic is running low, mmm? I will return to the Spirit World now, mmm. I'll be looking forward to, hmm, working with you." He said, before disappearing in a shower of light, leaving her alone in her home again. She placed his key in the pouch with the rest of them, smiled and then fell asleep.

 **Okay, that should be enough for now.**

 **Yes, so, I realized I skipped the part where Lucy contracted the three Zodiac Spirits in the middle of everything, so instead I decided to let Hibiki pass by. That way, I could also let Lucy see and believe that she had beaten Angel.**

 **And, of course, the chance to give her a new key! Solarium, the Sundial.  
As some of you may have noticed, this isn't a constellation which is on out skies right now. So, out of all the things I **_**could**_ **have chosen, now that I made a constellation of my own, why in the world would I pick a sundial? Well, the answer is simple. Solarium isn't a constellation I have made myself. That constellation is quite literally a 'lost' constellation. It was a small constellation lying somewhere around Horologium, if I remember correctly (Ironic, isn't it, both mark the time) but it was so small no one really knew it and it became increasingly invisible with technology's evolution and so on and so forth. So, at some point, they 'erased' the constellation.**

 **Yup, so it is an actual constellation, just not one we see anymore.  
So, it was actually kind of hard to figure out how he should look, as I wanted something similar to Pyxis, but didn't know which to choose. **

**I did some researching and stumbled upon the turtles and tortoises. They are the oldest race of animals still stumbling around on this earth. Older than the crocodiles and the snakes, even. The earliest known race of tortoises is 157 million years old, that's quite some.  
And, I also found out they are diumal, which means it only moves around at day, and sleep at night. Just like a SUNdial can't be used at night.  
Ah, yes, and then for Solarium's speech pattern. It was actually inspired from Quagsire from PMD: Gates to Infinity. Just thought it'd be funny instead of just old and croaky, hmm? **

**So that should be enough explaining for now…. Thanks everyone for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! You're** _ **smart**_ **. You're** _ **loyal.**_ **I** _ **appreciate**_ **you! :3**

 **~Line464d**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **I have absolutely no idea what will happen now… Well, let's see what'll happen.  
ALSO, fairly important message at the bottom!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: IF YOU'RE READING THIS, TELL ME! 'Cause I can't keep figuring out funny or remotely creative ways of disclaiming my owning Fairy Tail and Kuroko no Basuke. **

**Earth~**

Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she stared up at a ceiling which reminded her painfully of the one she had stared up at too many years of her life. It reeked of 'high class'. While she knew Teiko was an expensive school, it didn't have this kind of ceilings. Or this kind of soft whatever-she-was-lying-on.

She sat up from where she had been lying, seeing she had appeared astride on an armchair. A very soft and very luxurious armchair with deep brown leather upholstery. She looked around, finding another similar loveseat and a brown coffee-table with glass plates and a dark, squared blanket underneath, covering a part of a light sand-colored wooden floor underneath. On the other side of the room was a big queen sized bed with stylish, white pillow and linen as well as thin, black covers. Against the same wall, a rectangular table stood with what looked like a few drawers acting as legs and a comfortable-looking, black chair in front, pushed in under it, as a lamp and a weird squared object standing on top of it. Big windows let the daylight into the room, lighting the white walls up. One window she noticed was one of those bay-windows she had always loved to sit in and look out into the grand, beautiful garden of the Konzern, which the wonderful gardener Renkotsu always kept perfect. The little seat in front of the window was white and a few dark gray and black pillows made it seem even more comfortable to sit in. From what she could see, it also pointed out towards the garden of wherever she was. There was a door on the wall the chair she was sitting in stood against and another one on the wall right next to her. One, she knew, led to a walk-in-closet of some sort or another, and the other was the entrance to the room. Which was which she didn't know.

The momentary peace she had as she took in the appearance of the room she was in was broken as she heard yelling from outside the door of the wall she was sitting against. That had to be the entrance to the room then.

"You're spending too much time with that… That worthless _game!_ " A deep voice too similar to her father's rang on the other side of the wall. "You need to focus on your studies!" The voice declared.

The reply was much lower and much calmer. "I am getting top grades in everything, father." It simply replied. She recognized this voice "I am the one with the best grades among all the students in Teiko. I fail to see the problem." The voice she recognized but couldn't place added calmly.

"The problem is that all the time you waste on this useless game, you could have used to gather knowledge on how to run a company. It is never too early to begin." The voice declared now calmer than before.

"I have already read all the books on the topic in the library." The familiar voice said.

"That is why we have the national library, Seijuro." The voice answered. Lucy's mind whirled at that name. Where had she heard it before? She turned around so she sat properly in the chair. Seijuro, Seijuro, Seijuro… Oh come on now! Seijuro… Akashi! She was at Akashi's home! That was why everything was so luxurious.

"Father, I already know all there is to know about being CEO of a company. You have taught me all I will need to know." Akashi reassured his father, as Lucy figured it was.

"You _just_ don't get it, boy!" The father burst. Lucy closed her eyes as she remembered her father doing the very same thing so, so many times. "There will be no games the next week, you will come home right after school and continue your study! I will send a maid to collect books for you to read." The father commanded. "Now, to your room!" He demanded. Heavy footsteps grew increasingly low as who she figured was Akashi's father left the son to do as he had said.

And after a moment of silence, she could hear Akashi turn around and approach his room, the one she was currently sitting in. Magically… She blanched at her impossible feat - seen in Akashi's eyes - and almost jumped up and to the nearest window and opened it, seeing to her fortune that a long vine was crawling up the side of the house close to the window, giving a semi-realistic answer as to how she had come in, before she hurried back to the chair, making sure not to make any noise as she did so.

Just as she placed herself back on the armchair Akashi entered the room, closing the door after him and leaning back on the door with a heavy sigh. He ran his fingers through his long hair as the eye on Lucy's side flashed yellow for a moment.

Lucy slowly stood up seeing the boy's frustrated look, one she had seen in the mirror many more times than she could count. "Akashi…" She muttered, making the boy whip his head in her direction. "Are you feeling okay?" She asked him worriedly.

Akashi looked at the blonde woman confused. "Lucy…?" he asked slowly and confusedly. "How did you…?" He couldn't even form any questions.

She smiled sheepishly at him and gestured to the open window. "I think I was sleep-walking again…" She admitted. She then shrugged the expression off and took a step closer to the boy. "But that doesn't matter. Are you okay?" She repeated her question. "I heard you and your father…" She trailed off as a sort of explanation.

The redhead looked at her, still processing her sudden appearance, before he too shrugged the expression off and nodded. "I'm fine." He reassured her.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, recognizing the front he was putting up. Meanwhile she could see all the emotions swimming in his eyes. Just as she always could herself when she put up her own front and looked at herself through the mirror.

She shook her head and stepped close enough to could put a hand on his arm in comfort. "You don't need to put up the front with me, Akashi." She said and could see she hit the spot at the widening of his eyes.

He looked up into the soft eyes of the woman in front of him in wonder. "How did you know?" He asked her. Not only did she know he was lying, she also used the exact same name for his cover as he did.

Lucy gestured to her own eyes. "I can see it in your eyes." She said with a soft smile. She gently nudged the younger boy towards the seat in front of the bay window. "Now tell me what happened." She told him as they both sat down on it. Lucy realized there was more than enough place for someone like Gajeel to lie there without having to curl up too much.

Akashi sighed as he let himself be coerced down by the blonde, already knowing it would be futile to resist. "It's nothing to worry about." He finalized, not in the mood to tell her about it all.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Well, if you're not going to tell me anything, I will just guess." She announced and leaned back.

"It's not like that." The redhead quickly reassured her, only to be ignored.

Lucy looked up at the ceiling absently. "Your father wants you to take over his company, become the new CEO of it and bring it further. Either you're the oldest sibling, an only child, or you have surpassed your older siblings in intellect, responsibility and how to run a company. Your father wants you to use all your time gathering knowledge to further the company, all sorts of knowledge, it doesn't even have to do with running a company. Your knowledge has to be widespread after all, so you can counter any situation." She said, faintly noticing Akashi looking at her with a slightly moping expression. "He sees no reason for you to socialize or doing anything unrelated to your studies or your 'future' as a CEO." She looked down from the ceiling and at the person next to her, who was wearing a comically confused expression. "But you do, you want to be social, you want to do something in which you won't feel the pressure of your father's expectations, something you can do and feel free doing it." She said. "You want to play basketball, you enjoy playing it and the people following with it, the freedom you feel playing it. You want your father to understand, but you know that even if you try to explain it to him, he will never understand what you're trying to say." She looked to him, trying to confirm whether she was right or not.

Akashi looked at her with a surprised and flustered expression, he didn't even try to hide it. "How do you know all this, Lucy?" He asked her. Had she been spying on him?

Out of nowhere, Lucy decided to fall back on her seat, so she was lying on her back, her feet still on the floor. "As I said, I guessed." She said.

He shook his head as he looked back at her. "That can't possibly be all, Lucy. We both know that." He said. Of course he knew the blonde was clever, but it was impossible to know this much just from the tidbit of his and his father's conversation just now, no matter how much she heard.

She closed her eyes and smiled, knowing that now she had uncovered Akashi's secrets, she would probably have to tell him some of her own. "There's no hiding anything from you, is there?" She asked, looking at the boy. "Well, yeah, I'm not clever enough to could decipher all that from the fraction of your conversation. But I can compare it to my own experiences." She admitted.

Now he was the one to furrow his eyebrows at her. "Your own experiences?" Surely she wasn't implying what he thought she did.

Lucy smiled. "Yes." She simply said, turning her attention back to the ceiling. "My father… He's just like yours." She started out. "I'm also from a fairly wealthy family, although I think our company is relatively unknown outside America." She said, almost giggling at the thought of her father's reaction if he was told anything similar to his company only being 'fairly wealthy'. "But of course, although we were doing fine, father wanted our company to grow larger." She told him. "I am an only child, so I was the one who he counted on would further the business. Or.. Well… I didn't have much of a choice, really. He forced me to study, went so far as to pull me away from school and hire a tutor only for me, focusing all my studies with her on becoming the submissive wife to some high class guy, who would take over the company." She said, remembering that old teacher of hers _very_ 'fondly'.

Akashi almost snorted at the last sentence. "I can't imagine you being an easy student." He commented.

Lucy shook her head with a giggle. "I wasn't, believe me. I'm not exactly the 'submissive wife'-type of girl." She admitted.

"I noticed." He agreed.

The blonde grinned. "I can't count how many times he cursed the gods that I was born as a girl rather than a boy." She said. "When he got really mad, he would send me to etiquette lessons - they were by far the worst." She remembered. "Anyway, he wasn't always like that, keeping me locked up and only seeing people twenty years older than myself. Or, if it was people my age, it was potential husbands he would pick out for me." She said.

Akashi frowned. "Really? I didn't think arranged marriages and of the like still existed." He commented.

Lucy shrugged, hoping she wasn't too far off with what she was going to say. "Well, I don't know if it is different here, or if my father was just overly obsessed with getting rid of me, but he sure thought it was a great idea." She turned her head and looked at Akashi. "I was also older than you before he began with it, so you never know." She said with a grin.

Akashi sighed and rubbed his head. "Please don't give him any great, new ideas." He asked of her.

She laughed. "Don't worry about that." She reassured him. Her expression dropped a little again, preparing Akashi to return to the topic at hand. "My father… He wasn't always like that." She finally said. "He was a very good father once, but that was before…" Lucy trailed off and stopped speaking altogether.

"Before what?" Akashi asked hesitantly, a little bit worried about the answer he'd get, as the blonde had just suddenly stopped speaking.

Lucy glanced at him. "Before my mother died." She answered after a moment of silence.

The redhead stared at her for a long moment. "… What?" He finally asked, not quite believing what he had just heard.

She nodded a little. "She died when I was around 10." She explained. "My father was a really good father before then, and my mother was wonderful too, but when she died, all he cared for was the business. His family wasn't important anymore, all that meant anything was furthering the Heartfilia name." She said.

Not only had the blonde more or less experienced the same things he had with her father, their fathers also changed completely after their mother's deaths, becoming even harsher. This could not simply be a coincidence, the similarities were too many.

Lucy looked at the redhead, noticing his distressed and frowning expression. "What's wrong, Akashi?" She asked him worriedly as she sat up again, confused with the look he was giving her.

He looked at her with an incredulous expression. "You… Remember the day after we met?" He asked her slowly.

She sought thought her memory, finally finding what Akashi was asking her about. She slowly nodded, remembering their fairly deep conversation about his mother… Who had passed away. Lucy's eyes widened. "Don't tell me…?" She asked him, now also incredulous.

He nodded. "Just like yours, my father also changed after my mother's passing." He told her.

The silence was deafening between them as they both processed the amazing coincidence. Although… One knew it probably wasn't that much of a coincidence.

Lucy knew that the cause of their 'lucky' encounter was in all likelihood the doing of the Spirit King and this test he was putting her through. Someone like her, with an almost entirely identical background. There was absolutely no coincidence about all of this.

She looked at the boy with her, debating on asking him a certain question. In the end, she decided everything was so freaky, especially for him, so she might as well. "When did it happen?" She suddenly asked him. He looked up at her, and she saw in his face that he hadn't heard her question. "When did your mother pass away?" She asked him softly.

Akashi simply looked at her for a moment, remaining completely silent, before he gave her the answer. "It was around three years ago." He finally relented. Lucy quickly did the math, he was 10 years old.

"I see." Lucy said, looking down at her hands, hoping she hadn't bypassed the limits of what he wanted to tell.

She glanced back at Akashi, seeing he was sitting with his back to the wall, one leg drawn up, which his arms were calmly draped over, as he tilted his head to the windows, looking out at the garden on the other side of the transparent glass. The look in his eyes though, it was another of those looks she had seen on herself as a reflection in the window, just as Akashi was probably seeing his own now. It was one she had whenever she had thought about her mother. A very little and very sad smile, while inside fighting against the tears. She had had her Spirits… Who did Akashi have?

Lucy scooted across the window-seat and placed herself right next to the redhead, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close, turning his face away from her own, which - she knew - was mirroring his.

She felt him tensing in her arms as he tried to look up at her, only to find that one motion impossible. "Lucy? What are you-"

"You can't be strong all the time, Akashi." She told him, speaking from experience. She had tried herself, keeping those feeling locked inside herself, and they had crushed her, gradually. Letting them out once in a while was important. "You need to let yourself feel, no matter how much it hurts." She said, knowing he'd know what she was talking about.

Complete silence ruled between them for a long while, before she began feeling the sobs crawling through his body, making his shoulders jump with every one of them. "I… I miss her…" He whispered with a trembling voice, as his sobs grew in size and force.

Lucy gently tightened her grip around the boy. "I know." She sighed. "I know." She repeated as she tipped her head back to rest against the wall. She gently began threading her fingers through the soft, red strands of hair, but without making a sound. What Akashi needed wasn't to be calmed down, it was to let out everything he had in him. Everything he had been keeping inside himself.

She felt his still small arms wrap around her, just as desperately as she had once clung to Aquarius when she was in that mood. Back then, Aquarius wasn't so… Harsh with her. She knew exactly how to deal with Lucy, when her inner 'cup' overflowed.

When she was little, and still now, Lucy had a certain way of evading crying exactly at the moment, or the following ones, after her father had been rough with her. She stored it in her inner 'cup', which was much bigger than it sounded. In it, she stored all of the horrible things which made her want to cry, whether big or small, everything was stored. As such, it was much easier to control when and where she let the tears drop.

Except at some point, the cup would overflow with everything. And at those points, if she were with people, she would be in a terrible mood and anything slightly insulting to her or anything that would make her sentimental, would make her cry or even more pissed. Usually, in cases like that, she had been able to put up a façade that would keep up all day, as people usually never paid any attention to her anyway, and then, when she was alone, she would break down. At first, by herself, but later with Aquarius.

Usually the mermaid would simply stay silent and stroke Lucy's hair, until she had emptied the cup completely again. She would just stay there, reassure Lucy that she was not alone, and remain on Earthland long after Lucy was done crying, again just to drill in that she wasn't alone. Back then, Aquarius actually appeared in Earthland of her own power, because Lucy was so mentally unstable at those moments, she wouldn't be able to summon a Spirit even if she wanted to.

But always, her one and single goal was to reassure Lucy she was never alone.

And that was what Lucy was trying to reciprocate with Akashi. She wasn't sure if he had anyone like she had had Aquarius, but even if he did, he now also had her. Her shoulder to cry on and her presence to take comfort in. She knew that attempting to calm him down would simply make things worse, as he would just have to once again quench his feelings down.

She didn't know how long the two of them sat there, but she was certain there wasn't even a single knot in his hair at that moment in time, she'd taken care of each and every one of them already.

The boy had finished crying a while ago, but even then there had been a long while following with sniffs and stray sobs once in a while. Now, even those had vanished, leaving them in the completely silent room.

Lucy, returning back to Earth after taking a very long stroll down memory-lane, looked down at the boy, hearing his shallow breath, and calmly sleeping expression, although with red, puffy eyes, realized she had been 'gone' for so long, Akashi had fallen asleep.

She smiled a little. The boy reminded her painfully much of herself when she was his age, it had made all the old, buried memories spring back into life, conquering her mind for who knows how long? It had been a while since she had let herself truly submerge in the memories of the past, as they weren't all equally happy, but now she finally did, she felt refreshed.

She wondered… How was her father doing? Even now, she couldn't hate him for what he had put her through, because it had only strengthened her resolve to escape, and then to join Fairy Tail not long after, where she met a family unlike anything she could have imagined.

Also, although it was rough on her, it had simply been his way of grieving the death of her mother. She figured it was probably the same for Akashi's father. She suspected, with her own anyway, that he just couldn't face the pain of Layla dying and as such immersed himself in work to distract himself from having to face those feelings.

His reason for being harsh on Lucy would be because she looked like her mother so incredibly much. Of course she knew that, they were more or less like two drops of water. To be honest, Lucy couldn't even see where Jude's genes stepped in. At least not in her physical appearance. Her mindset probably sometimes reminded of his…

But seeing her hurt him and forced him to have to face his feelings. And it just got worse over the years, as she grew up, she looked like her mother more and more. She saw it in the mirror every day. And she completely understood how her father felt when seeing her. She didn't like it, but she understood.

He was her father though, and he had been a great one once, one she loved just as much as she did her mother. No matter what he did, some part of her would still love him, love the person she knew he could be. Love the person he had been.

And now.. What did he do? The Heartfilia Konzern had no heir, no one to take it over. Although she was quite certain that he'd find someone if he asked.

She was - once again - pushed out of her thoughts, when there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me, Seijuro-sama, I'm coming in." A female voice called out from the other side.

For a moment, Lucy panicked, trying to figure out where she could hide from the maid. But she used up too much time, as the somewhat elder maid suddenly came through the door. She used her elbow to open it and push it backwards, letting herself enter. When she had passed the threshold, she did a half pirouette and went towards the coffee table at which Lucy had been sitting earlier, without even looking towards the two of them.

As she put down the tray she had come with on the table, she spoke to the sleeping boy. Which she didn't know. "I brought you some tea to help you concentrate on reading the books your father had me bring you. I also added some tofu soup, of course. It's your favorite-" She said as she turned around. "After… All…" She trailed off as she saw Lucy there.

Lucy, not knowing what else to do, simply smiled at her and brought a finger to her own mouth, shushing her, as she gestured to the peacefully sleeping boy, who still had red, puffy eyes. Which - Lucy thought - only made him seem that much cuter.

The maid's eyes widened as she stared at the two, before realizing she wasn't there to hurt the red haired, young master. She quickly bowed to Lucy and sent her a warm smile before once again exited the room, somewhat more silently this time around.

Lucy smiled at the closed door, knowing Akashi hadn't been all alone. From the smile of that maid, it seemed to her, the woman had been there for him. Although it was limited how much the maid could offer, as she had to take their positions into consideration. But still, it warmed Lucy's heart that someone took care of Akashi from the sidelines, who cared for him.

Before Lucy could bring the thought any further, a wave of dizziness hit her like a train. She realized it was about time to go back, and carefully untangled herself from Akashi. She put him down on the window-seat so he laid down, so he wouldn't wake up when she disappeared.

But that also took all of the energy she had left. With a last pat on the boy's shoulder, her eyes closed heavily and her body sagged, before bursting into a golden light, leaving behind only one person in the room.

 **Well, I know this was a shorter chapter too. But, even if it is, quite a lot happened in this chapter, don't you think? Akashi and Lucy certainly grew closer here, and that was the point of it all.**

 **I am bad at writing really sad scenes, which has been proven before, so if you actually cried here, you're a really emotional person, or is pregnant or on your period (funnily enough, the last two only count for the girls) because I was not even close to aiming to make you guys cry. Or well.. I was, but kind of feel like I failed… But if you did, you're too sweet~**

 _ **Anyway,(!)**_ **I am kind of running out of ideas as to what will happen, both on Earth and Earthland, so if you have anything you think just** _ **MUST**_ **happen, please share your idea!  
Also, before you ask, I have decided on whether she'll be with the older versions of the Miracles, so there's no need to ask for that~**

 **So, let's see what I'll figure out for the next chapter, shall we?**

 **Thank you for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! It is beyond appreciated.**

 **~Line464d**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **Revelations, revelations~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: You know what would happen if I owned either of these two… ABSOLUTE CHAOS! And plot holes all over the place. **

**Earthland~**

"You're beginnin' to hold up well, Bunny-Girl." Gajeel suddenly told her.

Lucy looked up at him, surprised. She quickly wiped a bit of sweat away from her head. "Really?" She asked him, a little winded with the run.

The Iron Slayer nodded with a grunt. "Yeah, ya aren't dyin'." He grinned and added his usual laugh.

She laughed and nodded. "Guess you're right about that." She agreed. Compared to the very first week, she wasn't dying in the guild afterwards as much. Well, it had been a pair of weeks now, so it should go that way preferably. "So does that mean we'll do some actual fight training soon?" She inquired.

"Gihi, you wish!" He laughed at her, to which Lucy replied with a scowl. He looked down at the blonde, grinning at her expression, then, finally, noticing the extra clinging of her keys and looked down curiously to see at least one key he had never seen or heard before. "Oi, Bunny. New keys?" He simply asked.

She looked at him confusedly for a moment, not quite understanding what he was meaning, but then it dawned on her. She smiled and pulled out the four keys. "Yeah, Hibiki gave them to me yesterday, when he came by." She explained. "It's Aries, Scorpio and Gemini of Angel's." She told him and separated the silver key from the three gold ones a little. "And this is Solarium, a lost key, which had once belonged to his now dead girlfriend, Karen Lillica. I'm not sure if you heard, but she was Loke and Aries' former owner as well." She said.

He raised a pierced eyebrow. "Lost key?" He repeated. He couldn't remember ever hearing that or if it was supposed to mean something special.

Lucy nodded and placed them all back down on the chain. "Yeah, that means the constellation was abandoned, for one reason or another, and that there only are the ones left, which are already owned by a mage." She said and looked at him. "They can be as rare as the Zodiac keys." She said with a smile.

"I see." He simply replied, remembering Lucy telling him about the pony. "That guy knows about Earth too, right?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, he does." She confirmed as they turned a corner, turning in the direction of the guild.

"Don't ya think it's about time you tell the guild?" He asked. Someone outside their own guild knew before they did, it seemed wrong to him.

Lucy stared at the Iron Dragon Slayer for a moment. She knew what he was thinking, and he was right too. It was unfair of her to not tell her own guild first, although she hadn't had much of a choice back there. "It is, isn't it?" She asked him.

Gajeel nodded. "Imagine you go on a mission with someone other than me or your team, and then, when you fall asleep, you just disappear." He said. "It wouldn't be pretty." He added.

She nodded. "Yeah, I know, you're right.." If she was knocked out and disappeared during a mission, sure, she wouldn't be in the way, but maybe if the ones she was on a mission with couldn't find her, they'd get distressed during a battle, or just shocked that she disappeared, and then their opponents would take advantage of the distraction. "I'll tell them when I get back there, I promise." She told him, to which Gajeel simply grinned.

 **At the guild~**

The last of the run and a quick bath later, Lucy once again arrived at the guild, waving around to everyone who looked in her direction. She saw Gray and Natsu already far into another fight in the middle of the guild hall, and Elfman looking like he was about ready to join at any point in time. Erza was having a conversation with Gajeel and Levy, a little bit surprisingly. As she entered, the three turned their heads towards her, and gave her various different forms of reassuring smiles.

Lucy smiled back. So it seemed Gajeel had at least told the two of them what she was planning to do. That was probably for the best too.

She didn't have to look around for long, before she found the old master sitting by the bar desk, enjoying a bottle of some kind of alcohol, dressed in his ridiculous 'joker' costume, with Cana sitting close, but with a barrel rather than a bottle.

She quickly made her way to him, hoping he still had yet to be drunk. "Excuse me, master." She called out to the old man.

The guild master looked up from his bottle and at the blonde in front of him. "Ah, yes. What is it, child?" He asked her, putting it down with a goofy smile.

"There's something I would like to tell everyone…" She trailed off, and looked out over the very much noisy guild. "If you would please." She said and gestured towards her friends and family.

Makarov stood up on the desk and cracked his back, before looking out at everyone with determination in his eyes. "BRATS! CALM DOWN!" He bellowed through the hall, easily overwhelming everything else and instantaneously silencing the whole building. "Lucy would like to say something." He said before plumbing down and giving the blonde the spotlight.

Lucy nervously rubbed the back of her hand, what with the entire guild's attention on her. "Thank you, master." She thanked him with a little smile. "So, uhm, there's something I'd like to tell you guys…" She started slowly. "And I should have told you earlier, but…" She trailed off.

"It doesn't matter, you're telling us in the end, right?" Mira asked, gently urging her to continue.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She agreed, her determination awakened with the barmaid's forgiveness. Although that didn't make it any easier so figure out where to start. "Do any of you believe in the existence of other worlds?" She started.

This question earned her a lot of confused frowns from her guild mates. "Lucy, you insanity's showing again!" Cana said, beginning to chuck down another barrel, while some began chuckling at the drunkard's word.

Lucy shook her head. "I do." She said, once again silencing everyone in the room. "Because every time I go to sleep or get knocked unconscious, I go there. To another world." She said.

"Child, what is it you're telling us?" Master asked her confusedly.

Lucy smiled. "It's hard to understand, I know, but it's… Well I guess you could say it's an ancient tradition for Celestial mages." She said, finally feeling a little comfortable standing in front of all these people, who she loved and cherished, listening to her intently. None of them seemed about to consider interrupting her. "Every night, when I fall asleep, or when I'm knocked out, I will go to this other world, Earth. It is a world without magic, but… More focused on technology I guess. It's a test the Spirit King put every Celestial mage through when they're around 17 to 20 years old." She told them.

"Why is this, if I may ask?" Freed inquired from the second floor, where the remainder of the Thunder Tribe sat, even though none of them were actually S-class.

Lucy turned to face the green haired mage. "Of course, Freed." She reassured him with a smile. "It's because at this point in time, every Celestial mage's magic goes through a 'transformation' of sorts, in which our magic reserves get very small and… Well…" She trailed off. "In this period of time we're weak." She said and didn't look at a single person in the crowded hall. "In most cases, we feel week. We can see how quickly our friends keep progressing and how slowly we do ourselves. But in the rare case someone does not actually think or feel like that, there will be people telling said person they are." She explained. Realizing she was about to go off topic, she quickly returned to what she was doing. "Anyway, that's the basis of the test, actually. The Spirit King shows us another world, in which we won't be the weak ones and where we'll be accepted by the people there…" She trailed off, trying to prepare herself for the last part.

The master quickly seized the pause. "It is my hope you don't feel that you aren't accepted here, Lucy." He said, saying what everyone else wanted to.

Lucy looked at him confusedly for a moment. "What…? Oh!" She had meant they would accept her having magic, not like that… "No, of course I don't!" She reassured him, quickly shaking her head.

Erza stepped forward, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I believe what Lucy meant was though there is no magic on Earth, the people she meets there, will accept the fact that she possesses magic and that she originates from another world." She reassured the guild members, whose faces revealed relief when Lucy nodded in agreement.

They both turned their heads towards the white cat, when she cleared her throat for attention. "This test, am I right in assuming it is to see whether one can handle the pressure of this… 'Transformation'?" She asked.

Lucy tilted her head a little, impressed with the cat. "Something like that, actually. But it'll make more sense when you know everything." She replied.

The redheaded knight nodded. "It is quite important to mention, that if a Celestial mage even once says out loud that he or she wishes to stay on Earth forever, this will happen. The mage will be stuck there forever, even though he or she may wish to go back here." She explained.

The guild gasped at this information and began muttering between themselves, until their attention was instead turned to Lucy, where they bombarded her with frantic questions and statements such as 'Lucy, you're not weak!', 'Lucy! Are you going to stay at Earth?!' and 'Please don't leave us!'. They were so many and so loud, the blonde couldn't find head or tail in them.

Before it could become so much panic would settle in the targeted mage's mind, the pink-haired savior jumped up on the table and spouted flames all over the place, making everyone shut their mouths. "OI! SHUT UP! Luce is not like that! She won't leave us!" He yelled at all of them, his voice carrying through the now silent hall like a sharpened knife.

A certain laugh was heard from the corner of the room. "Gihi! And even if she does that, we're gonna haul her ass right back here." Gajeel promised, to which everyone agreed.

Lucy smiled happily at all of the people around her. "Thank you, guys." She thanked them all, happy with their support. Of course, they didn't know everything yet, but that probably basically covered everything they 'needed' to know… If they wanted to know more, she knew they would ask her.

Suddenly Mira came out from behind the bar and wrapped Lucy in a hug. "Oh, Lucy! Thank you for telling us." She gushed.

Lucy felt another female arm land around her shoulders, weighing her down heavily. "Oiiii, Lucy~" Cana sang drunkenly in her ear. "Are there any cute guys~?" She asked the blonde.

She smiled a little and gave a nod. "Yeah, there are, actually." She agreed. Cana and Mira both pulled away from her and gave her gazes, which demanded she tell them all about these boys. "They do a lot of training, are quite tall, beautiful eyes and messy hair…" She trailed off, gauging the expressions on the girls' faces, and grinned. "And they're about Wendy's age." She finally added.

Instantly the two girls' faced dropped and the sighed in frustration. "Oh, come on now, Lucy. Don't do this to us~" Cana whined.

"That wasn't fair, Lucy!" Mira added.

Lucy laughed. "They're really cute, all seven of the boys, and the girl too." She reassured the both of them.

While the two ladies grumbled about her lie, the master called out to her, Macao and Wakaba flanking him, having grabbed bottles of their own. "Lucy, my child, may I have a word with you?" He asked her, beckoning her over.

Lucy nodded, excused herself to the two grumbling girls. She smiled at the old men. "Yes, what is it?" She asked politely.

The guild master returned her smile. "Ahh, it was simply that I wanted to ask you why it is you decided you wanted to tell this to us today." He told her.

"Well, master, that's because Gajeel suggested it." She admitted. "Then reflecting upon the fact that Hibiki Lates of Blue Pegasus knows about this before you do, as he witnessed my travelling to the other world during our latest mission, I thought it was about time I let all of you know as well." She explained to him.

For some reason, every time she would have to talk with the guild master about missions, she would just change to the language she was brought up with. It was in all likelihood because it reminded her of whenever she had to tell Jude something, as she couldn't use a relaxed or familiar tone of language with him if she didn't want to be grounded or anything like that.

Makarov nodded thoughtfully. "I see." He simply commented.

"Also." Lucy said, drawing their attention back to herself again. "In the future, if you did not know, it might serve as a hindrance for you, giving the opponents an opportunity which they should not have gotten." She explained.

The master smiled at her, while the other two were already blissfully drunk. "I see your point, my child. It was a good decision, thank you for telling us." He thanked her.

Lucy smiled and was about to reply, when she was cut off. "OI! LUCE!" Natsu called from the other end of the hall. "C'MERE!" He told her.

The blonde sent the old man an apologetic smile, which he quickly waved off, before she proceeded towards the Fire Dragon Slayer.

He grinned brightly at her. "Tell us something about Earth!" He said.

Lucy looked around at all the people gathered around. Not only were Team Natsu there, Team Shadowgear and Gajeel were there too, as well as Cana, Mira, Elfman, Wendy, Carla and she could feel the gazes of the Thunder God Tribe in the back of her head. Little Romeo was sitting on Mira's lap, looking really excited.

Lucy smiled, nodded, and sat down with them all. "Well, what do you want to know?" She asked, having no idea where to begin.

Cana put down her barrel. "Why don'cha tell us about these people you've met over there?" She suggested. Lucy raised an eyebrow at the brunette's suggestion, having thought she had lost all interest in them. The drunkard only grinned a little wider. "They may be young now, buy y'know, it won't last forever." She reassured the blonde.

Lucy laughed. "Right, right." She said. "Well, the first ones I met were two boys around Wendy's age. Akashi and Midorima." She started out.

 **Later~**

After hours of trying to explain each of the people she had met on Earth, Akashi, Midorima, Momoi, Aomine, Kuroko, Murasakibara, Nijimura, Haizaki, Kozo and Mary, she had been forced to also explain basketball, how schools worked and also how they could survive without Lacrima. All in all, a long explanation.

"It's quite hard to believe, the existence of another world." Freed commented. Somewhere along the way, the Thunder God Tribe had abandoned the second floor in favor of being able to hear what Lucy said instead of straining their ears and attention.

Lucy smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, I know, it was hard for me too." She admitted. It had been, but bringing that blazer with her home back then kind of made it impossible to not believe it had happened.

Mira tilted her head with a confused frown on her face. "So, every time you fall asleep, you go to… Earth, was it?" She asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that's right. But it's not only when I go to sleep, it's also when I'm knocked unconscious." She added, seemingly only confusing the barmaid more.

The blonde heard heavy, approaching footsteps and saw Gajeel grinning mysteriously at her. "I think this calls for a demonstration, gihi!" She didn't even get to catch the meaning, before a sharp pain erupted from her neck and blackness covered her sight.

… **. I know…. These chapters get shorter and shorter… And I'm really sorry!**

 **See, I think the explanation is I'm trying to figure out how to proceed with the story line, as not much has been happening yet, to be brutally honest. But, I figured it out, and as such had to cut this chapter short. I guess it'll make sense with the next chapter, or perhaps it won't. Well, either way, let's see if I can manage to make the plotline progress just a bit, shall we?**

 **Either way, hope it was somewhat enjoyable though. It had to be done sooner or later.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed!**

 **~Line464d**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **I'm afraid the chapters may be shorter here on out… Further elaboration at the bottom.  
Also, I'm going on a trip with the school this Tuesday and won't be coming home before late Sunday, which is the day I upload chapters, and won't be able to write for an entire week. So, no chapter next week, I'm afraid. **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: My mind's blank… But that's another good reason as to why I shouldn't own either Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke**

 **Earth~**

"Oi! Heartfilia! Get up already!" She heard Aomine call out to her. But at the moment, she really couldn't care less. "Come on! We have to play here!" He said. She just groaned in her sleep angrily. "Okay, I ain't got time for this." He then finally said.

Lucy, too tired to even care, felt someone grab the collar of her shirt and drag her off somewhere. "Daisuki-chan…" She grumbled irritated.

The sound of a basketball hitting something close to her sounded and made her crack her eye open, to see Aomine standing with a tight grip on her shirt and an angry mark on his face, the aftermath of a basketball hitting his face. "Ow! Tetsu for fuck sake!" He said and rubbed his face.

In her hazy, sleepy state, she saw Kuroko approaching them. Without any words, he swatted Aomine off Lucy and instead helped the now half-awake girl to the benches. "Thanks Kuro-kun." She thanked him, the haze lifting from her mind. She caught Aomine's gaze as Kuroko went back to the court and stuck her tongue out at him, as the team began training.

A few months had passed since she told the guild about her… Condition. And although some people thought it was funny how she would just disappear when she felt asleep, and therefore drugged her through the food she was served, this also ended after the first week. She'd been on a few missions with Team Natsu too, so she could pay her rent, and much to her own excitement had she managed to avoid getting knocked out. The injuries were another story though.

Her training with Gajeel had also progressed. While they were still doing what they always had been, the level was set up for Lucy. He had even promised her they'd soon be progressing it again, and when that happened, he told her he'd kidnap her for a week and do some intensive training before they returned again. She was torn between really looking forward to it, and being scared of what the Iron Dragon Slayer might have in store for her.

At Earth, Kuroko had finally developed and practiced his own style of playing, so much so he had been accepted to the 1st string even.

His whole style was based on his speed and his next to non-existent presence, and being able to redirect the focus elsewhere. Kuroko had never been very good at scoring a goal, but his precision when passing the ball was phenomenal. He seemed like nothing more than a blue lightning, when he jumped in between players who were passing the ball, and redirected it to one of his own.

Of course, his style didn't work out well when they were just training shots, as he would be far below average there, but once he was in an actual game, his skills really flourished. It really was a style, where he was dependent on the other players, he couldn't just do it alone. Alas, as his strong point wasn't scoring goal, sometimes when the others were doing that, Lucy had offered to step in and do some exclusive training with Kuroko, focused on his style of playing. Sometimes Momoi would join as well, but it wasn't always, as she also had to keep an eye on everyone else's progression.

Gradually, as time had passed and Lucy had helped Kuroko more and more, she would be asked to play the unmoving defense when they were practicing scoring points, as it would be ridiculous to use a whole player on that position, when they had an extra person sitting at the sidelines. She hadn't been asked to do the moving defense as of yet, as usually it would be because said players also needed to practice their defense.

She had more or less become a part of the team, or perhaps a co-manager/trainer of sorts. She already knew a lot about training, mainly because of all the things she had learnt from Gajeel during her own, and often she would include it in their training. On top of that, Nijimura was kind of seeing her and Momoi as vice-captains, until he decided on someone else. Although Lucy had a feeling that even though he found one, they would maintain their positions.

Either way, a sort of tournament, the Nationals, would begin in two months, and the boys were training hard to win it, of course. Not only had their training gotten more vigorous, they would often play games against other schools, as there were only this one tournament in the duration of a whole year. Often they were also invited to be extra players for the 2nd string, as a sort of backup in case they should be losing the match. Of course, most of the time the boys, especially the first years, simply couldn't contain themselves and played their best game.

She could already see them all progressing in their own fields.

Midorima was a perfect shot within a third of the court already, and had a high success-rate for another third as well.

Murasakibara took at least 80 percent of the shots aimed at his net with his long arms and height. But not only was he brilliant on the defense, he was even better at the attack. When he was excited about it especially.

Haizaki, Lucy and Momoi noticed, had this special skill with which he could copy other player's techniques and use them for himself. What made it even more special was the fact that the techniques he stole, he tweaked to fit his own pace, only this meant that when the original owner of this trick saw this, he couldn't do it properly, because he had seen this tweaked version.

Nijimura had of course already laid down his style in the first year, so his progression wasn't as big as the others. Nonetheless, in correspondence to the others' development, his drives had become both stronger and faster. But all around, he had always been an excellent player, and that wouldn't change.

Akashi hadn't as such developed a certain skill like the others - excluding Nijimura - seemed to have. Rather, it seemed to also be kind of all around. He did have some quite smooth passes and often seemed to take the spot of captain, when and if Nijimura wasn't on the court, having great playmaking. He was also quite fast, in comparison to what was normal, and could dribble the ball fast enough to confuse his opponent before driving past him. Lucy had an inkling that Nijimura might choose Akashi as his vice-captain, what with the way he guided the team so naturally on the court.

Out of all of them though, Aomine was probably the one of them, who made the biggest progress. Perhaps it was due to the extra training he had done with Lucy and Kuroko, perhaps it wasn't. Either way, his playing style had become kind of… Wild, in a way. Kind of like a predator. Sometimes he would make some crazy scored from impossible angles. He seemed to could bypass any opponent with his speed and agility, by using confusing techniques.

Lucy figured this was in all likelihood due to the fact that he didn't learn basketball through playing it with a team and a coach, but rather through another 'genre' of basketball, called street-basket. So he played without using the usual movements and stances an 'ordinary' player would, but rather fast dribbles and changes in speed.

Of course, all of them still had a lot of potential yet to be discovered and their individual strengths were still not polished to perfection. It did seem like they had all found where they wanted to go with the game though.

Lucy smiled when she remembered overhearing a conversation between Kuroko and Aomine once. Kuroko called himself a 'shadow' as he seemed to work in the shadows, only appearing in the light in a moment to pass the ball around, but otherwise unknown. Meanwhile Aomine was always in the light, he was the 'light'. As such, Kuroko stated that the light and the shadow could not be without one another, but also amplified each other. So, the little guy wanted to act as Aomine's shadow. It was a cute conversation, but nonetheless logical.

Lucy was finally shaken out of her thoughts, when her favorite pink-haired girl landed on the bench next to her. "Good morning, Lucy-chan." She said with a little giggle, for once not attacking the blonde.

Said blonde yawned, just for the looks. "Hi Sat-chan." She greeted the pinkette.

Momoi smiled at her, then lifted a finger when she seemed to remember something. "Now I remember! Sanada-san and Captain-kun have a message for us and the team after training! Just so you don't run off somewhere." She giggled.

Lucy flinched a little at the last part. This about 'running away' Momoi mentioned… Well, it of course wasn't actually running away. It was because Earthland once again craved her presence. Her home-world sometimes had really bad timing, she found. It was almost like it _wanted_ her little secret to be revealed to the earthlings.

"Yeah, I promise I won't run away this time." Lucy reassured her friend. "Probably." She whispered only loud enough for herself to hear. She really hoped she would stay this time, for some reason she felt it was important. Of course, it always would be if both the captain of the team and the coach called for the entire team…

She looked up when suddenly the whistle sounded, filtering straight through any and all barricades in her mind and directly to the brain, as whistles seemed to love doing. And, of course, it would also be for something completely innocent and kind of irrelevant.

Training was simply starting.

 **Later~**

"Attention, please!" Sanada ordered from the stretching and talking team, which he also quickly got. "As the Nationals are approaching, it has been decided we will be doing a training-camp." He announced.

Nijimura nodded. "It is going to be six weeks from now, so clear your schedules for an entire week." He told them.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. A whole week? She was sincerely hoping this week and the one with Gajeel wouldn't collide. She had a feeling that week with Gajeel would leave her wounded and without any form for excess energy to deal with anything.

At the same time, Momoi was almost jumping where she sat in excitement. "A training camp?! That's what this was about?" She asked Lucy without even attempting to hide her excitement.

The blonde smiled amusedly at the pinkette and nodded. "Yeah, it seems like it." She agreed. With the younger girl almost bursting with eagerness next to her, her own excitement acted in accordance with it.

"All you need to bring is enough clothes to last for seven days, the rest will be taken care of." The captain added. "In six weeks, guys. Don't forget." He said before beckoning them all towards the changing rooms.

Momoi jumped off the seats and quickly called out to Sanada. "Sanada-san!" She called, making the man turn around to face her with a questioning expression rather than words. "Lucy and I can come too, right?" She quickly asked him.

The blonde hadn't even realized it might be a players-only arrangement before the pinkette brought it up, and really hoped it wasn't.

Luckily, the adult man nodded. "Of course. I was counting on your presences." He simply stated, before continuing towards the changing rooms. Momoi whirled around and did a thumbs up before following him.

Lucy smiled and shook her head gently, before also standing up and making her way down on the court overflowing with basketballs and stuff like that. She decided with herself she should start with collecting all the balls first, before attempting the bigger things.

As she picked the balls up, she couldn't help dribbling and throwing the balls in the cage. And soon, she almost completely abandoned dribbling at all and instead just shot them. Of course, her aim had improved a lot since the start, but it sure wasn't perfect either. Far from it actually. It was probably only half of her shots with which she hit. Especially when there was some distance.

But after what was much, much longer than necessary, but also much more fun, all of the orange rubber balls had been collected. Now she could easily push the heavier tools to their places in the tool-room.

Finally, everything was properly placed inside the little room, and the big court had been cleared. As she was just about to leave she saw a stray ball, which had somehow escaped the cage.

She sighed and picked it up, but just as she straightened up, she fell down again in a wave of dizziness, which seemed to erupt from her feet and travel upwards. She caught herself with the ball meeting the floor, and then fell by it, letting sleep overtake her.

 **Earthland~**

Lucy groaned as she woke up in her bed at home, feeling the round item she had brought with her from Earth by her side. She sat up with it in both of her hands, wondering if she should just keep it at home till she fell asleep here next time and then bring it back to where it belonged.

… Nah. That'd be boring.

She smiled as she put it on a table and quickly skipped towards the bath. She had a plan for that ball now. She took a quick bath, grabbed the ball and left for the guild.

For once, she contained herself and didn't walk on the ledge. But her self-control was so used up from that, she couldn't help playing around with the ball, which did not belong in this world at all. Without noticing at all, she had reached the guild.

She walked through the big gate-like doors and into the welcoming hall, picking the rubber ball up instead of dribbling it, just to see how long it would take for someone to notice it.

Which was immediately. "Oi! Luce! What's that in your hand?" Natsu asked her immediately and delivered a last punch to Gray, who growled and looked in Lucy's direction.

She made her way towards her team and family, holding the ball in front of herself. "Remember when I told you about the game basketball?" She asked them.

Gray's eyebrows rose. "That's a basketball?" He asked her.

She nodded and threw it to him. "Yeah, it is." She said and giggled when he caught it awkwardly. "It's lighter than it looks." She quickly warned him before he did anything.

Of course, he wouldn't heed her warning. Having probably remembered what Lucy had told them about the game, he more or less threw the ball down at the ground in a very much failed attempt at dribbling it. As expected, the poor, mishandled ball flew off in a completely wrong direction.

In a flash of reflex, Lucy whipped out her whip and quickly caught the ball and pulled it back into her own hands. She smiled at the Ice Make mage. "You need to be much more gentle with it, Gray." She told him.

He watched the ball with slightly widened eyes from the jumping power he saw it display a moment ago. "Yeah, I can see that…" He agreed.

Natsu grinned. "This idiot's too stupid to use a basketball!" The Fire Dragon Slayer told her. "Lemme try!" He then added.

Gray snorted at his rival. "And you're supposed to be better?" He asked him sarcastically.

"Yeah!" Natsu said as if that was obvious.

Lucy shook her head. "You'd do the exact same thing right after Gray did it, Natsu." She told him, to which he just stared at her for a moment, then relenting with a nod. "Anyway, I did it too, so don't worry." She reassured them.

"Please, Bunny, show these morons how it's done then." Gajeel laughed from the corner. He would probably be just as bad as Natsu.

She nodded. "If that'll help…" She said and easily began dribbling the ball where she stood in a steady rhythm. "As I was told, you barely need to push the ball at all." She told the two boys of her team, who seemed spellbound by the bouncing ball. She picked it up again. "To give you some idea of how much it actually bounces." She said and gently tipped her hand, letting the ball fall from her hands. It bounced up halfway and then fell again. The blonde quickly got it under control and threw it to Natsu. "Give it a try." She offered with a smile. "Remember, don't use much force."

With a nod and a cute, focused expression, did Natsu uncharacteristically carefully begin trying to dribble the ball. She figured she would just let him figure it out and only help him if he really needed it.

At first, he tried treating it as if it was as frail as glass - although he probably wouldn't attempt dribbling with glass… Hopefully - but when he did that, he had to reach lower each time. He quickly figured out he needed a bit more power in his dribbling. Of course, this time he added too much and then quickly figured he had to use less. Going back and forth between them for a while, he finally seemed to settle with something.

Natsu laughed, when he fell into a steady rhythm. "This is easy!" He laughed.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, once you get the hang of it." She agreed.

"Oi, Ice Freak, do it better this time." Natsu ordered, before passing the ball to his rival.

"If you can do it, anyone can." Gray grumbled, before going through the same process Natsu just had. Soon the entire guild figured they should also give it a try.

Lucy smiled as she sat by the bar, with Mira preparing a meal for Elfman, who had been one of those who struggled the most with putting too much power in the dribbling. Of course, it was a very 'manly' struggle he went through. Second only to Elfman, came Erza with the very same struggle.

She giggled with everyone else when Romeo tried, but put too much force in it, it jumped over him and landed on his head. "I'm glad it was the right choice to bring the basketball here." She said, partly to Mira and partly to herself.

Mira stood beside her, leaning over the desk. "Yeah, everyone seems to have a lot of fun with it. I'm glad you could manage to get it here." She said with a smile.

"Well.." Lucy started. "It was an accident, really. I kind of fell asleep with one in my hands." She said.

The barmaid was silent for a moment. "You'll have to return it, won't you?" She asked Lucy, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice.

"That was what I thought at first too." The blonde agreed. "However, I believe they won't be missing this particular ball." She said with a wink sent towards Mira, who might as well have squealed in happiness, from the look of her expression.

"I would be very happy if that was the case." An older voice told the two women. They turned to see Makarov jumping up on the barstool next to Lucy.

Lucy smiled at the old man. "If you say it like that, there is no doubt the ball will stay." She reassured him, having arrived at a decision. She looked back at all of her friends, playing around with the new item like small kids.

The guild master turned around and faced the same direction as her, watching his children having fun. "I was thinking… Now we own a ball, would it not be logical to also own the playing field?" He asked only half rhetorically.

Mira's eyes widened as she took in what the master had just suggested. "A basketball field? Here?" She asked the old man, while Lucy was battling inside with restraining herself from being the annoying one, who corrected people constantly. It's wasn't a field… It was a court!

The old man laughed. "Yes." He said, before he instead seemed about to cry, but in joy. "Dare I hope it…? Perhaps it might cut down the paperwork!" He said, tears already building in his eyes.

This made the two girls laugh. So he was counting on this saving him from having to keep restoring the furniture of the guild whenever a battle erupted.

Lucy smiled at him. "Even so, master, I have a method of repairing things, which doesn't cost any Jewels or any paperwork." She declared, remembering her newest key, whose greatest joy in life apparently was to repair stuff.

The old man looked up at Lucy with eyes brimming with tears. "Lucy~" He said with a very emotional voice.

She shook her head and waved him off. "It's my and Solarium's pleasure." She reassured him and patted her key-pouch.

Makarov smiled tearfully at her. "You are an angel, my child." He told her, patting her thigh a little too high for comfort. For a moment, she reasoned this with his short range of reach. "Well, if this plan is going to come into fruition, we will need a visual of the measurement for this field, in which they can play." He said and turned to Lucy. "I am afraid I can appoint this task to no one but you, Lucy." He said.

Lucy shook her head. "No, it would be fun to get a _court_ established here, I would love to help out!" She reassured him, stressing the actual name for the court, hoping they'd remember it with that.

"Hmmm~" Mira said thoughtfully. "Well, in that case, wouldn't it be smarter if we had more balls?" She asked. She glanced down at Lucy. "Of course, I meant perhaps we can create them here on Earthland rather than stealing from Earth." She said.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think that would be possible…" She agreed. "I don't think anything other than rubber and compressed air is necessary…" She said slowly.

"May I suggest an idea?" The guild master asked, drawing the girls' attention to him. "Rather than that, why not just make a copy or clone of the ball?" He suggested.

"Oh, that's a good idea, Master!" Mira agreed. "Do you know of anyone with Copy or Clone magic?" She asked.

"Well… As a matter of fact, I do." He said. "How do you think I fix all the tables and chairs those guys destroy without offering so many Jewels?" He said with a smug grin. Of course that would be the explanation.

"Bunny-Girl! Ain't ya forgettin' something?" Her personal, sadistic trainer called out to her, reminding her of what she had yet to do today.

"Coming, Gajeel." She sighed, knowing he'd hear her. She waved bye to the two at the bar, and approached the gates leading to the - voluntary - hell.

 **And, that's a fitting place to end the chapter off, isn't it?**

 **So, as I said at the top, the likelihood of the chapters being shorter the next few (Few = unknown number of chapters) times is quite high. Reason? Well, it seems I'm suffering Writer's Block (again T^T), and as such I can't quite figure out how to make the story progress…. It is already much longer than I first expected it would be at this point in time. But please forgive me if they're small…**

 **Anyway, I've been wanting for a while to introduce basketball to Fairy Tail, and let them play it. Of course, Makarov completely agrees it was a great idea :3**

 **I'm still looking for ideas as to what you want to see happen between Lucy and our young earthlings/earthlandlings. So please, write if you have ideas!**

 **Also, a little late in the chapter this time, we reached 190 reviews, 130 followers and 120 favorites! We're doing great, people!**

 **So, thank you to all of you out there. All who read, follow, favorite and review! Right now, knowing you guys want to read this and is waiting for the chapters is probably the only thing pulling me though it all right now honestly.**

 **~Line464d**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **We're at 140 followers and 130 favorites! Well done, guys! Now let's get the last 4 reviews till 200! ;)**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Line: Nee… Owner-sans, don't you think I would be a wonderful owner of your stories?  
Owners: No.  
Line: Aww…**

 **Earthland~**

A little week after the introduction of basketball on Earthland, with master constructing the outdoor court quicker than she had thought possible, her guild mates had already been enchanted by the game. If people weren't on missions, eating or brawling, which there had been considerably less of recently, they were out playing basketball.

Master had made the court within the first day, with her own guidance of course. Apparently as the guild master of the stringest guild, he had a lot of connections everywhere. Which wasn't surprising. The connection in mind was the Makers only guild, Unicorn Horn, which, as mentioned, consisted only of Make-mages, like Gray, Laki and Lyon. Other than that, he also managed to get into contact with a Copy mage, who made many, many copies of basketballs.

Right as it had all been set up, everyone had been demanding her to teach them about the game. She decided to teach them the rules, such as where one got which amount of points, what one would get fouled for and how to handle the ball.

Basically the entirety of her first day was used up on teaching her friends the game. And she had loved every minute of it. Since then, playing it every day, they all progressed fairly fast. Although it could get a little brutal sometimes... Too brutal.

Of course, she still had the advantage of also playing it 'in her sleep' which some people - ahem Natsu, Gray and Gajeel - were grumbling about, as they simply couldn't bypass her, since she had been playing it for much longer and with quite talented people.

What became very obvious just within the second day was the huge difference in how her Teiko boys were playing and how the Fairy Tail members were.

Where the Teiko team's playing style was much more proper and graceful, Fairy Tail's was brutal and direct. Aomine was lying somewhere in between, with the street-basket he played. But even that seemed prim and proper in comparison to how her guild was playing. Of course, Fairy Tail's brutality laid in the brute strength many of the members had and all the battles they had been through already. There was simply no barriers which allowed them to hold back, whereas the young, innocent boys from Teiko still had those barriers, no matter whether they knew or not.

Speaking of training, her own was coming along great, both in basketball, which she now could play both at Earth and on Earthland, and the one with Gajeel, where the training was only a little more than a warm-up for when she would play basketball on the guild-court. Even when she went on a mission with her team, she would keep as much of the training up as she could.

On missions too, she could keep up with the others a bit better stamina-wise, when they were running. Of course, she and Gajeel hadn't started the other side to her training yet, so she was still a little behind fighting-wise, but she would catch up soon enough.

Speaking of Gajeel, the two of them were rounding the last corner before reaching the guild. Throughout the entire training, he had been weirdly silent. It was kind of creeping her out.

When they finally reached the guild, he stopped up in front of the gates and looked down at her, sweating just a little. "I think you're ready, Bunny-Girl." He told her so bluntly she didn't understand what he meant at all.

She looked up at the Iron Dragon Slayer uncertainly. "Ready for what?" She asked him.

He looked down at her weirdly, but with a smug grin. "For your training to progress, of course." He clarified.

Lucy stared at him blankly for a moment, completely silent, before her expression cracked as realization set in and a wide smile spread on her face. "Really?!" She almost squealed. She had waited for so long, and now it was finally time!

He nodded and laughed. "Yeah." He reassured her. He began walking towards the guild. "It ain't going to be no vacation, Bunny-Girl, there's no need for high heels." He said as the final thing before entering the building.

Meanwhile, Lucy was fighting hard not to actually squeal out loud in the middle of the street. Finally! _Finally!_

 **Later~**

"Oi, don't you listen to me, woman?! Twist your goddamn hips!" Gajeel scolded her for the millionth time already.

"I am!" Lucy argued back, her temper already completely used up. For a while now she had been practicing how to do a certain kick. Apparently, kicking wasn't just randomly doing things with your legs. No, of course it wouldn't be that simple.

Standing in the basic 'fight' stance, with lightly spread legs, a little down in her knees, squared shoulders and holding her hands up, ready to fight. From here, she had to pivot on one foot, spin her whole body around by her hips, so that her chest almost faced the other way, pulling the shoulder with her, while the foot she didn't pivot on was supposed to 'kick' out at the imaginary enemy, but first by pulling the knee out and then extending the leg. Of course, with the heel, not the toes.

Basically everything she had ever done when kicking had been completely wrong.

"Didn't you say fighting was about creating your own style anyway?" She asked him, doing her best to follow his instructions.

"Oh, so you do actually listen to what I say?" He mocked her, to which she just sent him a little glare. "But yeah, you need to figure out what works for ya." He agreed. "But some things have to be mastered by everyone. This included." He said. "Now twist your hips, for fuck's sake!" He ordered her, as she had been standing still for too long.

"Okay, okay then!" She said and tried doing the kick. Lucy cringed when she tried to perform it. She could feel how wrong it was, it just didn't feel 'natural' as Gajeel said it would.

"Again." He simply demanded of her.

Lucy growled under her breath as she went through the movements again. Battle-stance, pivot on one foot, twist by the hips, knee up, shoulder down, kick out with foot. "Hah!" Again, a failed attempt.

"Again." The Rust Bucket ordered again.

Already now, the blonde's temper was flaring again. She went through all the moves again, but still failed. Of course, this time it was partly because of her irritation.

"Again." Gajeel repeated.

Lucy, fed up with his demands, spun around, facing him, before going through everything and kicked at him. Something felt different this time though. Right, somehow.

Gajeel had seen it coming of course and easily caught it in his hand. He gave her a grin and nodded. "Just like that, Bunny-Girl." He told her. "Seems you do better against a target." He said, released her foot and gestured for her to come at him. "See if you can land a hit, Bunny." He taunted her.

She squinted her eyes at him. "You asked for it." She commented before quickly going through the motions.

 **Later~**

As she had expected, training here, with Gajeel, was much tougher than back at the guild, probably because no one they knew was watching him torture her, he felt he was free to do whatever he wanted to do.

Either way, instead of running around on pavement and well-worn ground-areas, tread tough and steady with age, they were now running in the fine grains of loose sand running around the quite big lake. At first she had thought she would simply just have to get used to the sand, which she thought she would do within one round around the lake.

She was mistaken.

Running in sand was much, much tougher than it was running on roads and tough ground. The softness and looseness of it made it more difficult to find secure footing, and in the end made it much more straining for especially her shins to run in. Already half way around the lake, she felt like it was the first day of training all over again.

Of course, he didn't let the running be just that. Seeing as the route around the lake was much shorter than the one she had been used to running back at Magnolia. So of course it had to be extended.

And of course it had to be extended all the way to the rocky and uneven terrain of the mountain-like hills covered in wildly and uncontrollably growing trees, with roots sticking up from the rough ground, serving as great ways to trip her.

When she asked, his only excuse was that she needed to could move around in any sort of terrain and environment without it being too difficult. Despite that though, even Lucy could see all the running in the different terrains was also hard for the Iron Dragon. Which probably was the only thing getting her through it all.

Of course, the strengthening training still served as the warm-up for the harsh run, and still, the spawn of Satan did nothing but be there as a sort of moral support. Or his take on it anyway. More than anything, it felt like he just enjoyed making her suffer.

And he probably did too.

After she had succeeded in the first kick, the pivot, Gajeel had named it, they had move on to the next one, the side step. Almost all of it was quite the same, what with twisting the - goddamn - hips and chest and extending the foot backwards. With the little exception of a sidestep being incorporated in the set of moves, giving it the name 'sidestep'.

Having already somewhat figured out how to do the pivot, the sidekick wasn't as hard to do. And neither was the 'hopping side kick', which was supposed to be the most powerful of them all. The reason for this, Gajeel so kindly explained, was because when one did the little hop to the side, the person created a momentum, which was then used as fuel for the kick, which was sent the same way, making it more powerful. With this last one, the person had to twist all the way around, so he or she looked one way while the leg was kicked out the other.

Of course, the most important thing about the kicks, other than twisting, was to make sure the heel was the part of the foot making contact, as that was what held most power and would hurt most. Apparently.

Currently, they were taking a little break, where Lucy decided she could and would drink an ocean's worth of water, before they resumed perfecting the kicks and getting the most power out of them. The only joy about this was that the Iron Slayer served as her punching bag.

"Do you ever even use these kicks when you fight?" She asked him curiously, as she couldn't remember ever seeing him actually doing it.

The guy looked up from the bar of iron he was eating and swallowed. "Of course I do, you just don't recognize it." He told her, before taking another huge bite.

Lucy smiled. "Riiiight~" she said teasingly. She was bad at lying, no doubt, but even she wouldn't believe that one.

Gajeel glared at her in irritation. "I don't use the kick in the way you're thinking, Bunny-Girl." He told her.

The blonde tilted her head and looked at him challengingly. "Oh? What is it then, O mighty Gajeel?" She mocked him in a friendly manner.

The guy snorted, as if in laughter. "I clearly don't use the actual kicks, they're too obvious." He sai matter-of-factly. He had a point... The kicks were probably blatantly obvious to someone who was as used to fighting as him. "But I do use all the twisting, pivoting, creating of momentum and driving the heel in almost all of my kicks. One damn way or another." He explained, before swallowing the last of the iron and standing up. "We're continuing." He simply said, grinning at her. "Maybe one day you can do that too."

 **Later~**

"When you punch, do like this." The Iron Slayer told her, showing her how she was supposed to fist her hands. Because that there was a certain way to do that too. Just like with everything else. "Don't hold your thumbs over your other fingers, keep them underneath." He said, showing her how he was keeping his thumb under his other fingers in his fisted hand. "It's more powerful, and in worst case, you might break your thumb. Especially when fighting against me." He said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and looked at his fist, then did the same thing herself. "Like this?" She asked, having fisted her hand just like he had.

He nodded. "Yes, exactly like that." He confirmed. "When you punch, don't hit with your fingers, hit with your knuckles." He said, tapping the small bumps at the base of her fingers. "Again; more powerful and doesn't hurt." He said.

Lucy nodded in understanding. "Right." That she could probably manage.

Gajeel nodded, continuing his explanation. "When you punch, you have to have your whole body with it." He explained.

Lucy looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. Surely he wasn't speaking of..

"To create momentum, you twist at least the torso with the punch." He said, showing her what he meant in slow motion. "You get it?" He asked.

Meanwhile, the blonde was rolling her eyes internally at having to twist her body. Again. "Yeah, I get it." She told him. Twisting adds power. Or so it seemed.

"Okay then, try it out." Gajeel offered, spreading his arms out wide, grinning like he was having fun. In the matter of seconds, his skin turned gray and scaly as his iron scales covered him. "Let's see how long you hold o-" He grunted as her fist connected with his cheek, which was some of the last to get covered in the metallic armor.

Lucy smiled and bounced from foot to foot a little. "Yeah, I can already feel how much harder I hit in comparison to before." She said and looked at the Iron Dragon Slayer with a smug smile. "Let's see how much you can take, Metal Face." She said, ready to deliver another punch at any point in time.

 **Later~**

"Are you seriously telling me I need to do that..?" Lucy asked Gajeel incredulously as she with a twist of her upper torso sent a punch his way.

Gajeel easily deflected it and sent a light one back. "I wouldn't be sayin' it if I didn't mean it." He told her.

The blonde groaned as his fist connected with her stomach, but quickly retaliated with swinging her leg around, intent on sending a kick into the soft spot at his side. "But why?" She asked him.

Once again, he caught her leg and pushed it away with more force than necessary. "Because right now all you need to figure out is how to use what you've learnt in actual combat. And you can only learn that through experience." He told her.

Regaining her balance again, Lucy sighed. "Right, and that's the best way to do it, I guess." She relented.

Gajeel nodded. "Why do you think we keep doing it?" He asked, copying the kick she had sent his way a moment earlier. "We practice and try out new moves there." He explained.

She countered it by quickly doing a pivot-kick towards his scaled chest. "I get that, but I'm not as strong as you guys, I would just be beaten to a pulp." She said.

Once again, he caught her leg by the ankle, but instead of pushing her away, he twisted it around, forcing her to spin with it and land on the ground on her back. He released her foot and looked down at her with a raised brow. "Do you really think that those two idiots would actually beat you up?" He asked her, offering her a hand to get up. "Those two adore you, Bunny-Girl, of course they won't do that." He said.

Lucy sighed. "I know… But if Natsu and Gray go too easy on me, I won't learn anything either." She said. "Besides, even if they do go easy on me, there is no doubt I will get injured one way or another. What am I supposed to tell the people on Earth?" She asked, running in close, trying to deliver a punch up close instead.

Gajeel caught her arm, twisted it around her back and pushed her away. "You'll heal when you go from Earthland to Earth. Besides, who told you that you have to wear those revealing clothes all the time?" He asked her. "And do ya really think I'm using everything I have against you right now, Bunny-Girl?" He asked.

She glared at him as she turned around to face him again. "No?" She said. Obviously he wasn't, if he was, she would already be dead. Or at least unconscious.

"Exactly." He said. "And aren't you learning things?" He inquired. She stopped up for a moment. Of course she was learning things, there was a reason for that too.

"Of course I am. Your whole attention is focused on me after all." She said.

"Yeah." He agreed. "Here, you're learning how to fight against a single person." He told her. "At the guild-fights, you can experience fighting against several enemies at the same time." He said. Of course letting out the part where they were also fighting against themselves. It was more of a battle royale.

She sighed, realizing he sadly had a point with what he was saying. She needed experience, and she couldn't deny that would be a great place to do it. "Okay then, I see your point." She relented.

"Good." He said, and gestured for her to come at her again. "Now then, we continue." He said.

 **Later~**

"When you block, it's most important to cover your face." Gajeel told her.

She nodded. "Yeah, I know." She reassured him. She didn't know much about fighting, but she knew at least that.

"Oh, so you aren't stupid?" Gajeel mocked her with a grin. Lucy sent him a light glare, to which he laughed. "Gihi, just kidding." He said, but his grin kept mocking her.

"Whatever, what else?" She asked exasperatedly.

The Iron Slayer kept grinning as he explained. "Use your shins or forearms, it won't hurt as much when you absorb the pain." He said, making Lucy cringe for a moment. No matter what she had to take the pain it seemed. The Slayer's grin widened even more, as he seemed to realize something. "Seems our roles have shifted, Bunny-Girl." He said, crouching down in a fight-ready stance.

Lucy immediately understood what he meant. Now she was the punching bag.

 **Later~**

Lucy groaned in irritation. "Are you telling me I took all of your punches, just so I would learn how to deflect them afterwards?" She asked him incredulously.

"Of course." Gajeel told her, amusement clear in the air, the way he looked, expression posture and all. Just everywhere. "You needed to learn taking some pain first." He told her and laughed when she just groaned again.

"You don't like me very much, do you?" She asked him. When he just shrugged, she silently growled to herself. "Well then, tell me what to do." She ordered him.

"Is the little Bunny developing a temper?" He mocked her. When 'the little Bunny' glared at him, he continued unaffected. "When parrying, you need to keep a close look at your opponent. You need to read his movements." He said. "And have quick reflexes, of course." He added. "Or it'll just be an awkward block."

"Why?" She simply asked.

"Because when you parry, you don't just catch the fist or leg in your hand, Bunny-Girl, you push it away, redirect it." He explained. "It needs more precision." He said. "Besides, it is also usually used to create openings." He told her.

"Okay then, so why don't you use it all the time? You don't have to take any pain at all and it creates openings, seems far superior to blocking to me." She asked him, having witnessed a few of his fights at the guild and the one against Natsu back then.

"You can't parry all the time, you know." He told her. "Sometimes the fight goes so fast, you don't have time to parry it." He said. "Besides, blocking looks much cooler." He said with a grin.

"Right…" Lucy agreed slowly. "Of course it does." She sighed.

 **Later~**

"Come one! Dodge them!" Gajeel told her while laughing like a madman, clearly having fun with the situation at hand.

Lucy hissed as she was hit once again. "Why are we doing it this way? It's ridiculous!" She told him, quickly dodging another one coming her way by taking a sidestep. Except that made her walk right into another one.

"Because it's fun, of course!" He told her, sending another volley at her. "For me." He then quickly added.

"Right, why would there be any other reason?" She asked rhetorically, quickly ducking down to evade the flying object. "But why does it have to be stones?" She asked him, quickly spreading her legs, letting one pass through.

"That's obvious." He said, laughing when a stone hit her leg. "Ya clearly don't wanna be hit by them, so ya gotta dodge. Besides, they really raise your fighting spirit, don't they?" He asked her mockingly, simply holding a button down on the magical object, making the stones shoot at her, then disappear shortly after they hit the ground. Or her.

She couldn't deny her unwillingness to be hit by the rocks, which were quite sharp sometimes. "Still!" She protested. "You could have used something softer though." She said and winced when another stone cut her arm.

"Yeah, I could." He agreed. "But that'd be less fun and have less effect." He said with a grin.

If she had had the time for it, she would have sighed, but as she was in the situation she was, she couldn't do anything but focusing on dodging the many stones being thrown in her direction.

"Use your flexibility, Bunny-Girl!" He called out to her, laughing his ass off at her struggle.

 **Later~**

"I can't believe you made me do such crazy things…" Lucy commented, sitting across two seats in a train, the Iron Dragon Slayer sitting on the other side. "I'm black and blue all over now!" She complained. That and she had been completely drained of energy - the mental kind especially - when she was on Earth.

"Yeahrgh..." Gajeel grunted, his motion sickness making its appearance. He quickly forced it back down though. "Whatever." He managed to gasp out before having to lean forward, fighting the nausea.

Lucy frowned as she saw his sorry state. After a moment, she giggled and got up. "Move over, idiot." She told him, which he did, and placed herself on the seat next to him, pulling his head down on her lap.

"What are you... Ugh.. Doing, Bunny?" He asked her, about to sit up again. However he failed to fight the blonde.

She began dragging her fingers through his fur-like mane of hair. "It always helps Natsu when he's feeling sick, so figured it'd be the same for you." She explained.

The Iron Dragon Slayer grumbled some sort of reply, but didn't move to throw her off, and soon fell asleep too.

 **So, a little montage-like chapter of the training camp. Hope it all made sense!**

 **Also, hope it was a nice chapter to get back to after an extra week!**

 **Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed and of course read the story so far!**

 **~ Line464d**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **I have kinda figured out some of the things I might want to add, before I jump into the next 'arc', if you can call it that. Unfortunately, it will probably mean a few short chapters…**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope. Just nope. You'd be crazy to think I owned either KnB or FT. Crazy. Mad. Insane. Nuts. Lunatic. Mental. Clearly didn't have to look up synonyms here, nope~**

 **Earth~**

Somehow Lucy had managed to find a balance between training with Gajeel, going on missions with her team, playing and/or teaching basketball to her guild - although most had pretty much figured the game out by now, partly because she'd hung up a list of the rules near the court - and finally also brawling with the guys.

It had been a little weird, and kind of awkward, in the beginning, as she was a new player on the field, a very unexpected one. None of them knew 'how' to tackle her. Fortunately they soon softened up to the idea and figured out how they were going to go about tackling her. Quite literally.

In addition, it also meant she had become 'one of the guys' and that it was easier communicating with them, a bit more natural in a way. It seemed it wasn't a lie when someone said that exchanging fists brings one closer to the other.

Since returning from the little training-trip she and Gajeel had had, running around had been much easier, as now she was running on flat, steady ground rather than cliffs and sand. And although it was only a few days ago, she could already feel her own mastery of general hand-to-hand combat having risen with the extra experience she was getting. Loke was also more than happy to help her. And Erza was too. And Mira…

According to the redheaded knight and the white haired barmaid, it was not appropriate for a girl to be taught such brutal actions by the idiots of the guild. She should rather learn brutal actions of equal or higher volume by the two of them. Which was why they had continuously been interrupting her training with Gajeel, opting to take over for him. Which annoyed him to no end, much to Lucy's amusement.

As for her team of younger boys, who had been growing in ability for a while, a problem had occurred. One Aomine had unexpectedly eavesdropped on.

"They want to throw Tetsu off the team!" The young boy had exclaimed angrily, when he met Kuroko and herself earlier, to do the extra training they were doing.

See, the problem was that Kuroko seemingly couldn't adjust to the 1st string with his passes. They always came off a little crooked. As Lucy had expected, Sanada, Nijimura and Kozo, for the sake of the team, had decided he should not be there.

This belief was enhanced by the fact that the warmup exercises seemed to have the same effect on him as a whole hour of training had on the rest. He just wasn't as physically fit as the others.

Aomine had then jumped forward and declared that if Kuroko couldn't be on the team, then neither would he. And seeing as he could potentially become the strongest player they had on the team by the end of the year, if everything went as it did right now, they had no choice but to listen to his request, as they didn't want to lose him just like that. They gave Kuroko another, last chance.

He had till the next match to show them that he truly deserved to be on the 1st string. If he didn't figure anything out before then, there was nothing to be done, he'd have to go down to the 2nd string. Or lower, perhaps.

Kuroko remained silent, watching, as Aomine told them all the things he thought were wrong with the idea. Although the short, blue haired boy said nothing, and seemed to have an expressionless expression, it was clear to Lucy that the idea of leaving the team hurt him. He just didn't show it.

"They can't just do that! Just because he doesn't hit the mark every time!" He exclaimed angrily, almost in a fit of rage, actually.

Lucy finally decided to say something, seeing as this was doing Kuroko no good. "I think I may know what can help you, Kuro-kun." She told him, gaining the attention of both of them. "I think you still haven't upped your level from the 3rd string." She said, already feeling how what she was saying was right.

Although the other two were looking at her confusedly. "What do you mean, Heartfilia?" Aomine asked her quizzically.

Lucy turned to Kuroko. "I mean that you still play as if you're with the 3rd string, rather than the 1st." She explained. "You need to put more power into your passes, more speed." She suggested. She paused for a moment. "Hmm… Of course your accuracy leaves nothing to be desired, but still they miss." She muttered to herself.

"Well.." Aomine said, drawing their attention to himself. "What if he just aims a little in front of us?" He suggested. "Maybe it'll help?" He said hesitantly.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yes, that should work!" She said. Especially when they were running. "It's at least worth a try." She offered.

Kuroko looked at the two of them alternately before relenting with a nod. "Okay, I will give it a try." He agreed.

Lucy smiled widely. "Let us help you then!" She said enthusiastically.

 **Later~**

The two of them waved Aomine off and then began walking in the other direction, all of them on their way home. As it turned out, Kozo and Kuroko didn't live too far from each other.

There was what, for Lucy, felt like a comfortable silence between them. Until Kuroko decided to break it, that is. "What if it doesn't help?" He asked her suddenly, making her realize the silence might not have been as comfortable for him as it had been for her.

Lucy shook her head. "Of course it'll work. We've been practicing it all day after all!" She reasoned with him.

"But what if that is still not enough?" He asked, looking down at the orange ball he was keeping between his hands.

The blonde looked at her young friend curiously. He'd never really been very expressive with his thoughts and feelings before. She wondered if there was something else. "Is something bothering you, Kuro-kun?" She asked him concernedly.

He took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I'm too weak, aren't I?" He asked. "To be on the 1st string." He elaborated for clarification. Despite the topic, his expression never changed. He looked up at her with his big, blue eyes. "I can't even score a single goal." He reminded her.

Lucy sighed as well, turning her gaze forward. "A friend once told me it isn't always the fighters, who has the most important roles." She said, twisting Loke's words a little. "Sure, a basketball team won't survive without someone to score goals, but he is not everything." She reassured him. "If there were no one to guide him and support him so he would do his best, he wouldn't score any goals. If there were no one to take the opponent's shots, then he wouldn't win either." She said and looked down at him with a smile on her mouth. "And if there were no one to pass him the ball, he'd never get it in the first place." She told him.

Kuroko slowly nodded in what Lucy took as understanding. Or maybe it just meant he was listening.

"Playing basket is a team-effort. No one wins anything if their teamwork doesn't work properly." She said. "So everyone's important, one way or another." She reassured him.

Kuroko nodded again, but seemed to remain silent as he considered what she had said. This gave Lucy the very same opportunity. Those words could also be directed at herself, although it wasn't exactly about basketball.

… Or could they really?

The peaceful ball-game, where physical contact with the opponent hardly was allowed at all, was such a far cry from the quite dangerous world she lived in. With every mission, she and everyone else more or less put their lives on the line. Every single time.

It had been awfully clear in the collab-mission against Oración Seis, the incident with the Tower of Heaven and last, but definitely not least - more like the opposite - everything with Phantom Lord. In all of these, their lives had been threatened at least once, often more.

But that wasn't even the point. The point was that, yes, in her world teamwork was also essential for the sake of clearing the missions. No doubt about that. However that was more in the planning-stage than when said plan was being carried out. Not to brag or anything of the like, but she knew she was good with planning things and especially with the strong guidance of her Spirits and friends, who were much older and much more experienced than she was.

That was her strong point, thinking. Battling and fighting against enemies wasn't her strong suit. Sure, she was getting a lot of training and preparation with Gajeel, but if she was to fight against a strong individual, one with magic especially, hand-to-hand combat probably wouldn't be enough.

It wasn't to be misunderstood, she was more than grateful for what Gajeel was doing for her, and she enjoyed the time with him, she couldn't even put her appreciation into words properly. But it still didn't change the fact that she was just not strong enough to take care of herself against difficult opponents. Not with her weakened magic and under-developed combat-skills.

Perhaps the best choice of action for her would be to pull back, train, and simply do the planning for missions rather than participating in the actual fighting until she was strong enough to could handle herself once again. Of course, her team would object, saying that it couldn't even come up for discussion. She already knew. According to them, she was to participate, and then they would support and help her if necessary. _If necessary._

If she knew them right, they would most likely also bring in the fact that she had beaten someone as strong as Angel all on her own, without help from anyone. Except Hibiki, who blasted her once, when she had closed in on Lucy and later transferring an all-powerful, one hit knock out, spell, which she had used whilst unconscious.

Definitely all by herself.

She was proud she was able to do it, but she would probably not be able to use that very much consuming spell again unless she was pressured into a similar situation again. Which was probably likely, seeing as she had been pushed into situations such as that more than once already. There was bound to be more coming.

"Thank you." She heard a little mutter beside her, startling her out of her thoughts. She looked down at the boy, who had uttered the low words. "I will remember those words as I continue to train." He promised her.

Lucy smiled warmly at him, even though he wasn't even looking at her. "I'm glad my words could help you." She told him honestly. Now if only she could help herself like that too. Somehow. She glanced down at his clear, non-moving expression. "But you know…" She trailed off, making the sea-blue eyes turn to her. "Even if it doesn't work out, which there is no doubt it will, I'm sure everyone would still want to hang out and play with you." She reassured him.

To be cruelly honest, that was more to cheer him up that it was the truth. She was quite worried that if he left, he would basically lose all contact with everyone except herself, Aomine and perhaps Momoi. There wasn't too much contact between the strings after all.

A little smile-ish something twitched at the corners of his mouth, making that probably the first half-expression-or-not she had ever gotten from him. "I will remember that too." He told her, the smile instead in his voice rather than on his face.

They walked a little further in what was definitely a comfortable silence for the both of them, until they reached the part, where their paths differed. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Lucy half asked, half stated. She simply got a nod in reply. Kuroko gave her a little wave before continuing on home. Lucy smiled lightly and shook her head just as lightly at his behavior. Classic Kuroko. "Remember!" She called out to him, making him turn around to face her again. "You're probably the most hardworking out of everyone on the team!" She told him. Mainly because he didn't have the talent like the others did.

He gave her a thumbs-up in reply, before he turned around and once again resumed the walk home. Lucy giggled at him and also began moving in the direction of Kozo's. This wasn't the first time she had walked this path because she hadn't gone back to Earthland as expected. She had also tried once staying overnight. It was a very uneventful and boring night.

She soon reached Kozo's and went through the door. She knew Hinata would be home at this point of time. Kozo most likely was too, otherwise he would be soon.

As soon as she opened the door, stepping inside she heard a new voice, which she hadn't heard before. "Are you sure, sis?" A masculine voice asked. A relative of the Shiroganes'?

"Of course I am! There is no doubt in the world that she is _her_ daughter!" The voice Lucy easily recognized as Hinata's replied to the person, who was apparently her brother.

"It's just too hard to believe that this could possibly be _her_ child. The chances of this happening are too small." He reasoned with her. Meanwhile Lucy found herself completely frozen by the entrance. Just what kind of conversation was this? Who was the person, this ' _her_ ', they were talking about?

"You will believe me once and if you see her." Hinata told him. "She looks exactly like La-" It was at this point Lucy decided to announce her presence by closing the door she had entered through with a bit more force than necessary, effectively halting their conversation.

"Hi Hinata!" She called out to the woman of the house as she took off her shoes. "I hope you don't mind if I stay here for a bit?" She asked.

The blonde heard a faint. "Oh, it's Lucy." Before she got her reply. "Of course I don't mind, dear. Stay for as long as you want!" She reassured the blonde. "Please come into the living room, there is someone I want you to meet." She said after a short pause.

Lucy did as she was told and went into the living room where Hinata and her brother were sitting. Her eyes quickly drifted to the unknown person in the room. He seemed to be in the beginning of his 40's, clothed in a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath and a purple tie. He had black hair, just like his sister, but with a thick, gray line of hair on each side of his face. His facial features were sharp, although they revealed age. He was the third guy she had seen on the pictures the first day.

"You must be the Lucy I heard so much about." He stated and got up from the chair he was sitting in and offered her a hand. "I'm Eiji Shirogane." He introduced himself, while looking at her a little weirdly, although she tried to ignore that.

"My brother." Hinata added from the couch with a smile.

Lucy smile at him and nodded as she accepted his hand and shook it. "Yep, that's me. Lucy Heartfilia." She introduced herself, noticing the way his face twitched. "A pleasure to meet you." She said.

"You as well…" He trailed off. He abruptly turned around to his sister once the atmosphere had become satisfyingly awkward. "Well, I will be off then." He said and uttered his goodbyes before leaving the two women in the silent room.

A moment later Kozo entered the house and announced his arrival. Right as he entered the room, Lucy turned to Hinata. "Does Eiji know of Earthland?" She asked mainly Hinata.

The woman nodded. "Ah, yes. He does." She told her. "So you can relax around him." She reassured the blonde. Lucy would have to disagree.. She probably wouldn't be able to relax around Eiji much.

"Oh so he was the one who drove off from here." Kozo muttered to himself, glancing back to the entrance before going to the chair Eiji had been sitting in just a moment ago.

The room remained painfully silent, starting a conversation was literally impossible. Lucy was just about to say that she'd be going to 'her' room - the room she borrowed if she stayed longer than expected - when Hinata cut her to it. "I'm sure you heard some of our conversation." She stated.

Kozo looked confused, but Lucy knew what she was talking about. "Yeah…. I heard the very last of it." She admitted a little reluctantly. She had been caught eavesdropping. She felt like she did when she had been caught playing with her magic when she was very young by her father.

The elder woman patted the seat next to her and moved to make space for the blonde on the sofa. "Perhaps it is also about time you were told." She said as Lucy sat down next to her. The Shiroganes exchanged gazes before turning to the blonde with quite serious expressions.

Kozo was the first to break the ice. "I'm sure you noticed that some of the pictures out there have been cut." He started out, gesturing to the entrance hall, where the pictures were hanging. Lucy nodded, but decided not to say anything.

Now Hinata took the word. "Of course you did." She said. "Those pictures once held out daughter too." She told her.

The Celestial mage looked at the woman, shocked with the revelation. " _Your_ daughter?" She asked incredulously, hoping it didn't come out too rude right after it had been said.

The woman nodded. "Yes, our daughter." She confirmed. Lucy wondered why she hadn't met the woman and why she was cut out of the pictures. Surely she wasn't… In Heaven yet? Hinata sighed deeply. "But we lost her." She said. Lucy's eyes widened. Was she really right? Was their daughter really dead? "She's not dead, but she may as well have been." She said. Lucy almost breathed out in relief, but kept it in.

Kozo shook his head. "She found someone she loved dearly, honey. That's only a positive thing." He tried to reason with her, making Lucy's curiosity spike.

"I know, but that doesn't make it any more fair." The adult woman complained almost childishly. It was clear in her voice how much this - whatever it was - affected her.

Kozo smiled softly at his wife, his eyes flooding with the same emotions her voice revealed. "There's nothing we can do or say. We - or I - did the same thing." He said. Hinata agreed with a nod, a stray tear falling from her eye. When Lucy reached over to stroke her gently and comfortingly, it was like he finally remembered that she was there. "See, when our daughter reached her 17th year, she suddenly disappeared while she was sleeping. Of course, we didn't see this happen, but when it was time to wake her, she was nowhere to be found. We searched around frantically in the house and asked the neighbors, but no one had seen her leave." He told her. Lucy almost already knew where this was going. "We went back to her room, searching for clues as to her whereabouts-"

"But right as we entered the room, she appeared with a golden glow, lying on her bed." Hinata broke in. "Just like how Kozo-chan did back in his young days." She explained,, her voice a little shaky with emotion.

He nodded. "Yes." He agreed. "We stayed with her and waited till she woke up. She soon did and we asked her whether she could remember the dream she had just had." He told her.

"She could, of course." Hinata said. "Very clearly too." She added. "She had been at a weird place, which both seemed in front of and behind our day and time here at Earth. She said the air felt weirdly heavy somehow, but in an empowering kind of way." She explained.

"She then told us she was attacked by men with strange, magic-like powers." Kozo said, easily, naturally even, taking over for his wife like she had him. "But then a group of four other men came to her aid, fighting the others off. Especially one of them caught her eye and was also the one who helped her up and asked if she was all right." He said.

"He was later to become the one who would steal our daughter away from us." Hinata commented with a pouty voice.

"Hina-dear, you can't keep hating him forever. I'm sure it wasn't his intention to make you feel like that." He reasoned with his quite stubborn wife. "It was her choice in the end. She knew the risks and made a decision." He reminded her.

While the woman beside her pouted, Lucy decided to finally speak again. "So your daughter did the opposite of us? Went from here to Earthland?" She asked for clarification.

Kozo nodded. "Yes, that's what happened." He agreed. "I expect it may be because she has Celestial magic running through her veins from my side and that that was what allowed her to go from one place to another." He said..

Lucy nodded in understanding. "I see, that makes sense." She agreed. "So she found love there and decided to stay?" She asked. "Despite knowing the risks and loses included?" She added.

Hinata nodded. "Despite everything we tried, she still stayed there in the end." She muttered, barely loud enough for Lucy to could hear.

Kozo shuffled a little around in his seat, contemplating whether to say whatever was on his mind or not it seemed. "Speaking of risks…" He slowly said, having arrived at a conclusion. "There is another very important risk, which I have neglected to tell you." He told her.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. There were even more risks involved with all of this? Weren't losing your important people from either side a big enough loss?

"I'm afraid that if you choose to stay at Earth over Earthland, there will be no doubt that your life-span will become shorter." He suddenly just sprang on her.

The suddenness of it and the heavy news it brought made her mind go into a deadlock. Even though it was easy to understand, she didn't comprehend a single word of it. She simply stared blankly at him. "… What?" She only asked him.

He sighed, not in irritation, but in a sad sort of way. "Living on Earth as a person from Earthland shortens your life. You will die at a younger age." He elaborated. "The lack of magic here slowly eats away at your magic and as you know, we with magic cannot survive without it." He said, ending the explanation.

Lucy, whose brain had been unlocked again during his explanation, was finally up-to-date with what he was telling her. "Do you know how long you've got left?" She asked him hesitantly, wondering if that was too personal.

Hinata shook her head. "That kind of thing is hard to calculate and predict." She said. "But we expect he will run out within the next few years." She told her, her voice cracking at the end and the air filled and thick with emotion.

"Then what about…" She trailed off, hoping they'd understand it either way.

"Our daughter?" Kozo asked, to which Lucy nodded. "We don't know. She is a person with magic, although slight, but unlike me, she was sent to a world full of magic, what keeps a mage alive. But on the other hand, it may be too much for her body's reserves. The fact that she comes from another world entirely probably also has an effect." He said. "So we don't know." He concluded.

Lucy nodded slowly, having understood what he said completely and was simply processing it. "Thank you for telling me all this." She told the both of them. "I'm afraid that Earthland is calling now…" She said as the familiar dizziness fell over her and swallowed her. It seemed this was what she was supposed to learn here today.

 **So, that's it for today folks! Hope you liked it~**

 **And yes, revelations have been… Revealed? Yes, revealed! What did you think? Did you expect it or not? :3 I'm curious**

 **Also... WE REACHED 200 REVIEWS! Guest wins the prize this time again!**

 **Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed and last but definitely not least read!**

 **~Line464d**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 **I was so busy this week, I don't even know how I found the time to write this chapter… Which explains the length of it.**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: I'm seriously running outta ideas here. Please, O thy mighty King of Spirits, please, I beg and plead, take these two and convince them to let me own their stories. It's not a bad idea at all, is it?**

 **Earthland~**

Lately things had been getting weird.

Apparently there had still been a guild member Lucy hadn't met. Gildarts Clive. He was the strongest mage in the guild, the ace, who was constantly roaming around and doing difficult missions. For example the 100-year mission he just returned from after three years, after having failed by being half eaten by a black dragon. The 100-year mission was a rank three times over the S-class missions. And here she thought S-class was hard enough in itself.

Also, his magic was the unreliable kind, which destroyed things. So, if he didn't pay attention to keeping it under control, he might destroy everything around him. Which had caused the guild and the entire city to create a 'Gildarts Shift' which was moving every building in a straight line leading to the guild to the side, so something like it wouldn't happen. Again maybe.

Afterwards, not long after the introduction of their ace, the whole city of Magnolia, including the guild, was sucked up through a hole - anima - leading to a parallel world. As if that wasn't enough in itself, the king of that world, Faust, had transformed the guild and whoever was in it into a giant Lacrima as it went from one world to another, so that it could be used as a sort of magic supply to keep that world - which was called Edolas by the way - as it was. With magically floating islands and all.

The only ones who hadn't been caught in the Lacrima was herself, Natsu and Wendy. Mystogan, who was the Jellal of Edolas, and the prince of it too, gave her a pill, which allowed her to use magic on Edolas and a little pouch with her, which she could give to any guild members she found. Which just so happened to be Natsu and Wendy.

Actually, before meeting up with her, apparently they had met the Fairy Tail guild of Edolas. Where many people from our guild were, although with more or less the opposite personality or something else of importance. For example, where Gray in Earthland 'loved' to strip, the one in Edolas couldn't wear enough clothes. Also Juvia and Gray's relationship was reversed in Edolas… It made for a funny picture.

Afterwards they were attacked by the 'Fairy Hunter', who was Erza's counterpart and an enemy to the guild there. The last one left. Apparently, King Faust had ordered all guilds to be erased - as he wanted the magic for himself, but somehow Fairy Tail had survived for so long.

Anyway, after reaching the capital, with the help of both her counterpart and Natsu's, they firstly see Faust announcing how he would use their guild to recharge the magic in Edolas, which only fueled their determination to save everyone.

Of course, this lead to them all being captured by the Royal Army. But something very… Strange happened at the capture. See, the guards bowed to Carla and Happy, congratulating them on a successful mission. Carla and Happy had apparently always been from Edolas, but had been sent to Earthland in order to kill the Dragon Slayers, but that was later changed to bringing them to Edolas. They were from a race called 'Exceed' and were highly esteemed in Edolas, as they were magical creatures. Carla and Happy were sent to Earthland while they were still in their eggs. Of course, all of this had never been the two cat's intention.

But everything worked out in the end, as Erza, Gray and Gajeel showed up, rescued Wendy and Natsu from having their magic sucked out of them. After splitting up into groups and doing separate things, it all ended up with fighting against the king, Faust, and stopping their friends stuck in the Lacrima from colliding with Extalia, the home of the Exceeds.

The three Dragon Slayers went against Faust, as he had a magically created dragon-thing on his side, while the others went to push the Lacrima back, with the help from all of Extalia in the direst moment.

They beat the king and they managed to stop the Lacrima and Extalia from colliding. But then their last mission… Make sure the people would accept Mystogan, or Jellal, as their prince and king, who had used his entire life on Earthland procrastinating the Animas from swallowing Earthland. They owed him a life debt.

So the six Fairy Tail members played evil followers with Natsu as the evil leader, Great Demon Lord-Dragneel. They were 'defeated' by a baffled Jellal, who had planned to play the evil person himself and wasn't playing entirely with them. Either way, when the Anima were reversed and everyone and everything with magic was to return back to Earthland, the people believed in the play and cheered for their prince.

As they returned home, they all found the Exceeds had followed them, getting an official apology from the queen of them, as well as a thought-to-be-dead member. Lisanna Strauss, Mira and Elfman's little sister. And Gajeel got himself a cat/Exceed like the other Dragon Slayers, Pantherlily.

So, yes. A lot had happened.

But worst of all, during the entire time this was happening in Edolas, while she was in Edolas, she didn't go to Earth at all. Because Edolas wasn't under the Spirit King's rule. Apparently. She had no idea she would miss the boys and Momoi so much when she couldn't go to them. Now she knew. And it kind of worried her.

She had only barely managed to not burst into tears when she came back to them or squeeze the life out of them. But she didn't. While they may have been a little confused, she was basically just a little more excitable than usual.

On the positive note, Kuroko had fulfilled the requirements for staying on the team! She, him and Aomine had used almost all of the time they had to practicing his passes, and it succeeded. At the match, he delivered every pass perfectly to the somewhat stunned 1st string and their opponents. It had made the game flow much easier and their win had almost been certain before half of the game had passed.

Anyway. Now, right at this moment, she was returning home in an irritated mood. Why? Well because her training with Gajeel, the spawn of evil, had to be a part of _everything_ she did. And that included her basketball games with her guild - he couldn't decide how she played at Earth after all. Apparently the way she was playing the game was too peaceful.

See, she had practiced a lot with the Teiko team and afterwards Kuroko and Aomine, so she had adapted a playing style, which was alike theirs. The 'proper' kind, not the street-kind that is. And with 'proper' she meant the one which wasn't played out on the streets. She had no idea what to call it other than that.

But that wasn't good enough for him. Or rather, it wasn't violent enough for him. It was too 'cowardly' as he put it. Despite that though, whenever she played one on one with him, she would always win. But it wasn't wild enough. It didn't let her explore her instincts and let her inner animal out. Or so was his message anyway.

So now, not only did she have to fight and brawl like the boys, now she also had to play the game _she_ taught him and the others _like_ them. She couldn't play like she had practiced to play and how she always had. Now she had to play roughly, so that she could move and react faster.

Yes, it was to train her reflexes and speed, mainly. But also to read the opponent's movements. Nothing Gajeel ever made her do was for no reason, it turned out. All of it did something important. All of it.

So, now she was pissed. Pissed that she couldn't just play the game how she wanted. Pissed that she knew he was absolutely right and that it was a smart idea.

She was really looking forward to burning off all of this energy playing basket with Kuroko and Aomine. It was Sunday for them over there, though. Which meant a day off from school, so… But it didn't actually matter, she showed up where she had to. She just had to blow off a little steam, somehow. Funny how she needed that after brawling with the guys and training with Gajeel all day, but she did somehow.

She quickly went up the stairs, took an even quicker bath and then went to bed, ready to see what awaited her in the other world. She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes.

 **Earth~**

She woke up with a little groan and opened her eyes to completely unfamiliar surroundings. The first she saw was that she was on some kind of light wooden floor, surrounded by white walls and only a few windows. In the center of the room, an almost minty green mat lay, squared in smaller, lighter green squares of sorts, with the minty green outline. A big mirror covered one on the walls, showing the entire room. A pair of human-like dolls, showing only the torso and head - no arms, no legs - of what seemed like a man stood with a little space between them and the wall. Otherwise, the room was entirely empty.

Lucy had never seen anything like this ever before. It was all very strange to her, especially those weird doll-things.

But more importantly, where was she? It looked nothing like the school, the style was completely different.

She jumped up in shock when a door out of two suddenly opened. She didn't even know she could get to her feet so quick. She looked up to see someone she didn't expect to be there. Nijimura.

The two stood in silent shock as they just stared at each other, no one moving a muscle. "Niji… Mura? Why are you here?" She asked hesitantly, as if she didn't believe what she was looking at. And she didn't entirely either.

Having his name spoken seemed to bring him out of his daze. "I should be the one asking this." He commented. "What are you doing here, Lucy?" He asked her.

Lucy glanced around the room, figuring it was his, or at least a part of his home. Which meant she was trespassing. Nice. Not that it was the first time. "Uhm… I.. I don't really know." She said honestly. Just what the heck was she doing at Nijimura's?

"Oh.." He said, probably figuring it was her weird sleeping-habits. Which was painfully true. It was because of her weird sleeping-habits.

It was first now she realized he was dressed in a weird robe-ish, white outfit. Which clearly wasn't an everyday outfit. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you in doing something." She said and gestured to his clothes. "I'll just leave again, so you-"

"No!" He almost shouted, surprising the blonde into silence. "No." He repeated, not quite as loud. "You… You don't have to leave." He said a bit awkwardly. "I, uhm… It was just karate." He said. "I was just going to do… Karate." He muttered.

Lucy stared at him for a moment. "Karate?" She finally asked, hoping it would lift the slightly awkward atmosphere between them.

"Yeah." He said. "It's a sort of martial arts." He explained.

"Martial arts?" She asked dumbly. From what she knew - which wasn't much - it was a special sort of fighting style unlike anything they had on Earthland. Rather than beating each other up, like it was in her world, and doing it with any means necessary, on Earth it was more about pushing the opponent out of the 'ring', which must be this mat in this room, and overwhelming the other. And also actively using the moves practiced and perform them perfectly in front of the judges.

It was so far from what she was used to. But it was still fighting.

Lucy smiled and fell down in the familiar battle-ready stance. "Let me see what you've got, then!" She said. Seeing his confused expression and hesitant pose, she sighed inwardly. "Don't worry, I've done a bit of this before." She promised him.

"You have?" He asked her incredulously. Well, it seemed blonde girls usually didn't do martial art on Earth judging from his expression.

Which only made Lucy's smile morph a little into a smirk. The credits of this went to Gajeel. She had definitely been around that guy too long. "Is it so hard to believe?" She answered his question with a question.

He slowly nodded. "Since when?" He asked.

"Well, my friends back at home do a lot of martial arts - of sorts - and I decided to join in. That's all." She reassured him. "Now, show me what you got, Nijimura!" She demanded. This should do well with letting her let go of a bit of the steam boiling inside her.

With a nod of acceptance, Nijimura placed himself in the middle of the mat, entering an unfamiliar stance. Nonetheless, he looked ready. "You show me." He challenged her. "First one outside the ring loses."

 **Later~**

Many blows, wins and loses later, the two were still fighting in the middle of the mat. Lucy did a quick spin, kicking her leg out towards the guy, aiming for his shoulder. He deflected it, trying to make an opening, but Lucy quickly made that impossible, going into a defensive stance.

Nonetheless, he lashed out towards her. She dodged it by taking a step back, but as it turned out, it was just a feint all along. He crouched down really low, sticking his leg out - it was more graceful than it sounded - and spun around, tripping her. Unfortunately, she was outside the ring now.

"Ah, you win again." She said, breathing heavily. The two of them were more or less evenly matched, they had both won and lost in a fairly equal amount. Nijimura offered her a hand to get up. One sweaty hand met another, as he helped her up from the floor. "Thank you." She said with a smile.

"You're welcome." He replied. "Despite your looks, you're not half bad." He told her.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked him, with a little smile. Although, he didn't seem to see that, and thought he had insulted her. Lucy giggled at his frantic attempts at apologizing and assuring her he meant nothing with it. "Don't worry about it Nijimura." She told him. She knew it wasn't meant that way. "And you're not too bad yourself either." She added.

He wiped some sweat off his forehead. "What do you say we take a break?" He suggesting, pulling a water bottle out of seemingly nowhere, offering her its contents.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." After all, they had been at it for quite a while. She accepted the water and took a quick drink, as it wasn't originally made for her. "Ahh, that was good." She said and handed the bottle back to the black haired boy. A light, pink dusted over his cheeks before he also took a slurp of it. "Hmm… I'm also getting tired now." She commented.

Nijimura looked at her a little worriedly. "Lucy?" He almost carefully asked. Lucy felt how her eyelids were slowly growing too heavy to could possibly keep up and open for much longer. Her legs were turning into jelly and didn't seem to could carry her weight. They crumbled under her, making her begin the slow decent towards the floor. Luckily she never hit the floor at all, as she was caught by a pair of young yet strong arms. "Lucy!"

This was the last she heard before the familiar and very much misplaced dizzy spell hit her and sent her straight back into darkness.

 **Earthland~**

Lucy woke up with a jolt, sitting straight up in her bed, back in her own apartment, staring at the familiar walls and furniture she'd gotten used to seeing long ago.

"No.." She muttered, jumping out of bed. "No, no, no." She kept muttering while pacing around in her apartment in the probably early morning hours. "Ahh… This can't be happening!" She said out loud, not caring who heard her. "Shit! What am I going to say? That it was just a simple magic trick?" No, of course she couldn't do that. Because it clearly wasn't 'simple'. She stopped up suddenly. "Of course… That must be it!" She decided by herself. "It's a dream!" She concluded.

Except she didn't dream any longer, seeing as she didn't actually sleep either.

"What'll I do? What'll I do?" She asked herself, beginning to pace all over again. "What if he told everyone about it already? What will they say? What will they do?"

"Uhm…" A voice cut through her rant, as there had been a little pause. She turned her attention towards the window, where a certain Fire Dragon Slayer sat. "What's going on, Luce?"

 **All right, I know this chapter is painfully short. And I'm sorry.. But as I shortly mentioned at the top, I haven't been home to write it, so it's come off a little… Rushed, I guess.  
But! Of course, it's split into two chapters, sorta! **

**Forgetting its length for a moment, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter nonetheless! It's one I've been waiting to write out for a while, although the most of it will be in the next one. Ish. I hope. That was the plan anyway.**

 **Thank you to all who has read, reviewed, favorited and followed! Keep doing what you do!**

 **~Line464d**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 **All right, how will Lucy get herself out of this problem?**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Dislclaimer: Okay, leave a review if you actually read this part~ I'm curious. And I don't own either Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke although I should. **

**Earthland~**

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed happily, relieved with his unexpected presence, as an idea sprouted in her mind. "Knock me out! Quick!" She ordered him. Maybe if he did it immediately, she would return to where she left or shortly after.

He looked at her weirdly, before jumping down from the window sill and taking long strides to reach her. When he did, he placed a warm hand over her forehead with a worried frown.

This action of his only served to make Lucy explode. "I'M NOT SICK! KNOCK ME OUT! NOW!" She yelled at him, probably waking up the entire neighborhood.

Natsu jumped back, holding his hands over his ears in a weak defense against her high volumes. "Ow…" He whined.

"Lushy's sanity finally broke." Happy commented from the sidelines, already giggling at his own comment.

The blonde glared at the annoyingly blue Exceed. "Shut up you stupid cat!" She snarled at him, not caring about the fact that he wasn't actually a cat.

"Oi, freak show." Another male voice called out from her front door. "What'd you do to piss Lucy off this time?" He asked Natsu.

Lucy immediately recognized the voice and whirled around towards the entrance. "Gray! Erza!" She called out to them, for now not minding the fact that they had barged into her apartment uninvited. Again. "Knock me unconscious!" She immediately demanded, having discarded Natsu for his uselessness, figuring the other two wouldn't question it.

She was wrong.

"What?" The Ice Make mage asked, just as the Fire Dragon Slayer had. Lucy sighed exasperatedly and face-palmed. Where was Gajeel when you needed him?

"Lucy, please explain the circumstances and reasons for this outrageous request." Erza asked of her.

The blonde sighed again. "But there's no time!" She replied, frustration lacing her voice. Why didn't they just do as she said?

"Okay." Gray said, moving towards her and placing his cool hand on her shoulders as he pushed her down into her couch. "Did you work out or something?" He asked, wiping his hands off in his pants, which seemed to be the only piece of clothing he was still wearing.

"No!" She quickly said, then remembered what she had been doing before returning to Earthland. "Yes.." She then corrected herself. It seemed even sweat carried over from one world to another. Or perhaps it was just because she was panicking. "But it was back at Earth!" She explained quickly.

"So your problem originates from your recent trip to Earth, I take it?" Erza inquired, placing herself in the armchair on the other side of the little table.

Lucy nodded. "Yes!" She said, hoping to speed this whole conversation up. A lot.

Natsu jumped over the backrest of the couch and landed in the soft seat, as he had done so many times already. "What happened over there?" He asked as Happy landed on the table.

The blonde sighed for the third time, figuring they wouldn't send her back without a reason or before having considered the situation. "I went to sleep right in front of someone from the team." She said, calming herself down even as she spoke. When she received nothing but confused stares from all of them, she found she had to elaborate. "He saw me disappear in a magical golden flash, guys." She reminded them, trying to ignite a reaction of some sort.

An expression of realization appeared on each of their faces. "Yeah… That doesn't sound good." Gray agreed, scrunching his face up a bit. "What're you gonna do about it?" He then asked.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Well, I had originally thought to go back right away, so I perhaps could return right after I had left, but _some_ people weren't very helpful." She said and sent the two guys especially a pointed look.

"Even if you did that, Lucy, there would be no guarantee that you would end up right afterwards." Erza commented. "After all, you only go there and stay when there is something important you have to see or do, as far as we have experienced till now. Alas you would simply go to a point where it wants you to go, rather than when you do." She reminded her.

Lucy groaned and fell back in the couch, tipping her head back, resting on the backrest. She had forgotten that fine, little detail. Very important detail. "You're right." She said almost in a sigh. But that didn't change the fact that she wanted to explain to Nijimura what was going on or just do something as quick as possible.

"What about that old man?" Natsu suggested, confusing Lucy for a moment. Then she remembered who Natsu referred to as 'old man'; Kozo. "Can't he help out?" He asked.

"I doubt it…" Lucy said slowly. The mention of Kozo sparked a memory of the quite… Heavy news she was told last time she'd stayed over. Of course, she'd forgotten all about telling them what she'd learned…

"You look like there's something you wanna say." Gray said, easily analyzing her expression and body language.

She almost wanted to glare at him. She knew how they would react to the information and wasn't sure she wanted to tell them. On the other hand, she knew she should. "Yeah.. I guess I do." She relented. "And you're not going to like it." She said with a low voice and a sigh.

Of course, she had forgotten all about her best friend's enhanced hearing. Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "It can't be that bad." He said.

Lucy looked challenging at him. "If I decide to stay at Earth, it'll drain the magic out of me and slowly kill me." She then bluntly told them.

The four of them stared at her blankly, completely silent as they processed what they had been told. Then, as if they had practiced, they all shouted in unison. "What?!" Perfect synchronization. They must have practiced in secret.

"Luce! Why haven't you told us about that?" Natsu almost yelled at her, angry flames erupting all around him and flickering out towards her. How her couch didn't catch fire, she'd never know.

While her one side was being roasted by Natsu, the other was being frozen by a just as upset mage. "Yeah. Why did you hide this from us?" Gray chimed in.

Lucy was about to say something in her defense, but Erza cut her to it. Contrary to the other three - Happy was flying around in circles over them - she was much calmer about it all, as she sat there, one leg crossed over the other and closed eyes. "I believe this is quite the positive news you have brought to us." She said. Ignoring the collective 'Huh?!', she just continued, opening her eyes with a smile. "This is simply yet another reason to not stay at Earth." She said.

This silenced the boys and Exceed immediately as they considered her point. Natsu was the first to break into a big smile. "Yeah! Erza's right!" He said, his smile turning into a grin.

Lucy kept to herself the feeling of utter loss se had felt while not being able to visit Earth. As it looked right now, it was in everyone's best interests not to let them know. It would just make them worry unnecessarily.

"But why would the Spirit King let someone stay at a place, where they would slowly die? It doesn't make sense." Gray butted in.

The blonde looked at him. "That's a good question." She admitted. "Well, I guess if you find someone you really love, you would sacrifice your life for that person." She suggested. "Or the fact that losing people often seems worse than a shortened life span?"

Erza shook her head. "I believe it is much simpler than that." She said. "It is still a choice the individual mages makes, and as such it is, for many, preferred to stay the place they wish for a shorter time rather than spending their entire lives regretting their choices." She said.

Once again, Lucy decided to keep silent with what she knew. No matter what choice she would make, there was no doubt she would miss the group she left behind. Just like Kozo did, she would probably regret her choice for quite a while, no matter what it would be.

"That sounds right…" She admitted. "Anyway, that's not the problem at hand. I really need to go to Earth as soon as possible and talk with this guy. Explain it." She said. She simply had no other choice now, since he had seen her vanish into thin air.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Lushy? It can wait for later~" Happy commented. "Where are the fish?!" He then added.

"Because if I go around with this all day, I won't be able to think about anything else, I'll constantly be worrying about it." She explained to the Exceed, and probably the others too. "It just needs to be done."

There was a short break before Gray answered her. "I'll help you, Lucy. But you'll probably need a bath first."

 **Earth~**

Lucy woke up in the middle of the familiar court in the Teiko gym. As soon as she had finished her bath, Gray had knocked her out so that she could go here, as promised.

She looked around. It seemed she had arrived a little earlier than the others. Which seemed to be the case more often than not.

Of course, this wasn't what was actually on the blonde's mind. She still worried about what and how she was going to tell Nijimura just what he had seen. She almost wanted to just search through all classrooms till she found him, and then pull him out of the class.

But she knew she couldn't do that.

To take her mind off things, she began readying the court as usual. However she had already gotten so used to this, the task was completed within a few moments, leaving her to her thoughts again.

She picked up an orange ball with a sigh, opting to distract herself with the game. And so she did, as she sprang into movement, charging towards the net furthest away. As she came to be near the net, she pushed off the ground and jumped up towards the goal. Of course, she couldn't jump high enough yet to make a dunk, so instead she relented with throwing it against the backboard and letting it fall into the net as she landed on the ground herself.

She caught the ball after it had hit the floor once. She quickly sped her dribbling up again, moving towards the opposite goal. This time she decided to go for a three-pointer. So, when she was about a meter away from the arc, she began making the moves to do the stance she had seen Midorima especially do countless times. She slid into a jump as she aimed for the goal, her hands rising upwards, and then pushing the rubber ball towards the net.

Not nearly as high as Midorima, the ball flew through the air, hit the backboard and landed in the net, before falling towards the ground. Since Gajeel wasn't around to tell her how to play a game she had introduced to him, she would just play it exactly how she wanted to.

"You've gotten a lot better recently, have you not?" She heard a voice inquire from the entrance. She turned towards it, even though she already recognized and knew who it belonged to.

"You think so, Sei-kun?" She asked Akashi with a bright smile. It was always nice to get recognition from those with more skill than yourself. Means you're doing something right.

The redhead nodded. "Of course. You score more often than not, from what I have observed." He told her. "Of course, I wouldn't know how you do during matches… But I'm sure that'll come soon enough." He quickly saved himself, while pretending not to have almost insulted her as he smiled in return.

"Well, I have also been practicing in my free time!" She said. This meant, not to his knowledge, for both of her worlds. Although it seems basketball was slowly becoming a part of training too. Everything was. "So what did you do with the rest of the team..?" She asked hesitantly, once again remembering why she had returned so quickly this time. And not seeing anyone else but the redhead in sight, she had to ask.

"They should be right behind me-" He cut himself off as the familiar group showed behind him.

It was only by pure self-control she wasn't either biting her lip or nails in concern. Would Nijimura stay home today because of what happened earlier? Because he wanted to avoid her?

Her worries were cast aside, as the black haired boy appeared in the middle of the stream of young people heading to the changing rooms. She automatically reached out and pulled the surprised guy out of the stream and to the side - far enough so that no one could hear their conversation without being suspicious.

"Lucy?" He asked as if he had never expected to see her again. Like she would just disappear forever. And, well, maybe it wasn't too surprising.

She stopped up and turned around to him. "Nijimura.. About what happened yesterday…" She tailed off, having suddenly lost the thread before she had even begun.

"How can you still be here? You disappeared right in front of me.." He asked with a low voice.

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, let me explain." She said, her voice barely any more than a mutter. To say she was reluctant to tell him was an understatement. It was still a little soon for her.

Nijimura shook his head before she could begin her explanation. "This is going to be taking a while, isn't it?" He asked. To her, it sounded like he suddenly didn't care anymore. Probably seeing her weird face, and realizing how his words sounded, he explained what he meant. "It's not that I don't want to know!" He quickly reassured her, a little flustered, maybe. "No, I want to know all about it. But.. It isn't such a great time now, see?" He said and gestured to the arriving players.

Lucy nodded, seeing his logic. "Yeah. After training then?" She suggested. Then they could also find somewhere more quiet and private to talk.

He nodded. "Yes, that sounds good." He said, before the two went each of their ways. Lucy towards the young pinkette, who had kept her distance, probably seeing the atmosphere around their conversation, and Nijimura towards the changing rooms.

 **Later~**

Getting through their entire training had made her worry even more - if at all possible. It had given her the awesome perk of being allowed to watch the boy, who knew more about her than she was comfortable with, having his mind distracted throughout it all.

She pretended not to, but she had noticed the way he kept glancing her way, as if to see if she was still there and could disappear any given moment. Whenever he did though, she would look at one of the others. She could almost giggle at how alike they were to a young teenage couple in love. Almost.

Momoi had known - and found out - that Lucy hadn't felt like chatting a whole lot today, so she had more or less left the blonde to herself and her worries. And Lucy appreciated the privacy very much. She wasn't sure whether she would be able to hold a conversation right now. She'd probably reveal something she didn't want to.

But now, she was just waiting for Nijimura to be done with the bath and changing. The wait seemed eternal. Of course, that might also partly be because her patience was about to run out. Had been this last hour, really. But at the same time, she wished that time would stop, so she wouldn't have to tell him all these things.

Finally the door opened for the first time since it closed the last. She straightened up where she stood, anticipating the arrival of the one she was waiting for. Out stepped Nijimura as the first and only. It almost seemed he had dashed through everything in there, his hair was still wet and his clothes were not sitting right. He looked around frantically, not actually seeing anything.

Lucy took a single step forward to let him know she was still there. "Nijimura." She called out to him, watching as he turned around to her, relieved she was still there. "Do you know anywhere on the school which is private?" She asked him. She'd been here a lot, but she didn't know the building like he did.

He nodded. "Yeah." He said and motioned for her to follow him as the two of them went towards wherever Nijimura was leading them. They soon went out the exit of the gym, meeting a completely empty school. The walk, although somewhat short, had been completely silent. Now, he had finally built up the courage to ask a question. "So… Will you just disappear at random moments..?" He asked her.

She smiled. "Well, that depends how you look at it." She said. Waiting for him to make a reaction, which was a confused expression, before she explained. "I'll disappear once the reason I came here is completed." She said.

"… What?" He asked. Of course he wouldn't understand, he had yet to know she even came from another world, before he knew that, nothing would make sense.

"I know it's confusing, but I promise you it'll make sense once you know everything." She promised him. "First of all, the most important thing, is that I'm from another world altogether." She said.

The captain froze mid-step and looked at her with wide eyes. "F-from… Another world? How?" He asked. "How is that possible?"

Lucy gently pushed him forward so they could continue their walk towards wherever they were going. "Because my world is one filled with magic and.. Well I guess weird creatures from your perspective." She said and looked up at a passing bird with weird, plain colors.

"Th-that's…" He stammered, the information probably overwhelming for someone who was told magic didn't exist. "It's just so…" He trailed off for a second time. He sighed loudly, at a loss for words, and dragged his hand through his still damp hair. He looked down at her, when he heard the jingling of keys and saw her looking through her pouch. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

She looked through her Spirits, trying to find a certain one. "I know the concept of magic and other worlds is hard to believe for the people here, generally. So it'll probably make it a little easier if I demonstrate it." She said and drew out the key she was looking for. "If I can." She mumbled.

"What is that key?" He asked her, staring at the weird, silver key she was holding in front of her.

"This is my magic." She said and smiled at him. "I have Celestial magic, which allows me to summon the Spirits behind the constellations in the sky." She explained. "This is Nikora, the Canis Minor, but I call him Plue." She said and closed her eyes, holding the key in both hands. She hadn't tried summoning or using her magic at all here yet. But she had to succeed now, if she didn't, Nijimura wouldn't believe her. She focused all of her attention and magic at the little, silver object in her hands. "Open, Gate of the Canis Minor!" She said, pointing the key out in the air, sending every single magical resort she owned into the key. "Nikora!" She said, letting the magic burst from it.

Feeling the familiar feeling of a Spirit being summoned, she opened her eyes to see the little, white creature. "Puuuuuunnn~" He said happily as it shook where he stood, lifting his hands as if wanting to be lifted, which he probably did. She obeyed his offer and picked him up in her arms.

And that was when she remembered that she wasn't alone and got over the worst of her pride with success. The black haired boy looked at the shaking snowman with a weird and unbelieving expression. "Wh… What is that?" He asked, continuing to stare at Plue.

"This," She said and held Plue out a little. "Is Plue." She introduced him, while he reacted to his name. "Out of those I have, he's the easiest Spirit to summon. Which is why I chose him.." She said and scratched the back of her head.

"So… Uhm… What can i- he do?" Nijimura asked, seemingly almost afraid of the little, harmless thing in her hands.

"Well…" She said slowly. "He can't really do much…" She admitted. "See, the magic in this world is much less than in mine, so summoning Spirits is much harder." She explained. "Actually, I would really have liked summoning something a bit cooler than this guy, but-" She was cut off as a golden flash appeared next to her.

"Princess simply needs a bit of practice." Loke's voice rang from the flash. She felt an arm land around her shoulders, but was too surprised to react. "Your knight in shining armor has come to your aid, Princess!" He then announced.

A second of silence covered over the four of them, before either Lucy or Nijimura could say anything to his sudden appearance. "Loke?!" She exclaimed.

Meanwhile Nijimura's mind was somewhere else. "Princess?" He asked.

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, for some reason he calls me that." She said. Actually, she'd never found out why he called her that. Because she saved him way back when? "Anyway, this is the Lion, Leo. Or Loke, as I call him." She introduced him, while removing his arm from her shoulders.

"Oh.. Okay, I see." He said. "Hi?" He asked awkwardly. Loke grinned and made a salute as reply. "So.. Is this guy powerful then?" he asked, eyeing Loke curiously.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, one of the strongest." She confirmed. "Anyway, the point to this was to make you believe in magic and other worlds. Is that accomplished?" She asked.

Nijimura nodded slowly. "Yeah… I doubt anyone wouldn't believe it if they see what I've seen." He said with a little smile.

Lucy breathed out heavily as she let Plue return back home again. "Phew, he was getting hard to keep out too." She said with small pants. It seemed her magic was quickly used up here, as she didn't get supplied with as much from her surroundings…

The Lion looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay, Princess?" He asked her. It was Plue, so she should maybe have been able to keep it out longer, but her mental situation throughout the day had been… Kind of all over the place.

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, I'm fine. I was just a little surprised by the difference from usual." She reassured him. "Anyway, I'll be fine now Loke, you can return back now." She said with a smile.

Loke sighed. "Oh, how harsh it is to be rejected by your one true love!" He said dramatically. "However, even if it is so, I will come at your every call!" He announced proudly. "I will see you later, Princess." He said with a smirk and a wink, before he disappeared.

Lucy sighed with a blush. Why did he have to be so embarrassing at a time like this? "And uh… That was Loke." She said. "I'm sorry for his behavior.." She muttered.

"Uhm… It's okay." He said, waving it off. "So, you're from a world with magic. And you can summon these.. 'Spirits' with your magic?" He ended out asking instead of stating. Lucy nodded. "So how do you go here?" He asked.

"Well." She started. "The trigger is sleep. Every time I go to sleep - or get knocked unconscious - I go to the other world. As you saw." She said.

"Knocked… Unconscious?" He asked slowly. "You get knocked unconscious?" He asked her, his brows furrowed in concern, it seemed.

She nodded reluctantly. "Yeah… It is a high possibility in my world." She said. Seeing his expression, she continued. "My world is much more dangerous than this one is." She explained.

His brows seemed to furrow even further. "How so?" He asked her. At this point, they had just relented with standing in the middle of the empty school grounds rather than going wherever Nijimura had thought they should go. No one was there anyway.

"Well, it's simple, really. Like here, we also have criminals, and we do have a sort of police too. Except sometimes they aren't strong enough." She said. "Most of the time when it involves magic, really." She added. "And that's when it's sent to what we call guilds. A guild is a sort of… I don't know, group? Where mages meet and hang out, but also where they get their missions." She explained. "The missions are the criminals which the 'police' can't take care of, but also simple jobs, which requires mages." She said.

Nijimura nodded slowly. "So, you have to fight against these criminal people with magic?" He asked, sounding like it all was so far from what he could imagine. It wasn't even a surprise if it actually was.

Lucy hummed affirmatively. "That's right." She said. "Of course, we go in teams to back each other up, most of us do anyway, in case something should happen." She reassured him, seeing his worried expression.

"Ah, I see." He said. "So do we have a lot of mages from your world running around here?" He asked.

"Oh, no." She shook her head with a smile. Of course he would assume that. "It's only Celestial mages which go here, and unfortunately there aren't too many left." She said with a little sigh.

"Only Celestial mages? Why?" He asked her.

She scratched her cheek thoughtfully. "My guess is it's because our magic is connected with space and other worlds." She said. "It's also because of the Spirits, you know, the ones I summoned earlier, there's a king. And he sort of… 'Tests' us Celestial mages, to see whether we would fit in better at Earth or Earthland, my world." She told him.

This seemed to surprise him. "So you have to find out where you would fit best?" He asked her. "Then what if it turns out to be Earth?" He asked her.

"Well." She said with a sigh. "I have to say out loud that this is where I want to be, doesn't matter if it's on one or the other, and then I will stay here. If I don't say anything, I will just stay with my own world." She explained.

"Then…" He trailed off. It seemed he already knew what to ask, just didn't know if he should. Maybe he already had the answer to it. "What will happen to the world you don't choose?" He asked her carefully, deciding to ask after all.

Lucy felt her expression twitch and hoped he didn't notice. "I won't ever be able to go back to that other world…" She said. "I will lose everything I have there." She murmured.

"I… I see." He said hesitantly. "In that case, you should choose Earthland." He said, his voice as tender as his expression, yet determined somehow.

Lucy looked up at him with wide, confused eyes. "W-what?" She stammered, her mind not catching up with her. This was most likely the last thing she expected him to say.

"I'm serious, Lucy." He told her, determination radiating from him. He definitely meant it. "This world isn't where you belong. You belong with your family, guild and friends, not with us." He reasoned with her. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "If you stay here, you can't see your Spirits as much, it drains you too much." He quickly added. "There is no reason for you to choose Earth over Earthland." He told her firmly.

Lucy kept her mouth closed and smiled at him softly, feeling the stinging behind her eyes. That was what she had thought too once. She suddenly felt the familiar woozy feeling of Earthland's calling. She quickly drew Nijimura into a hug. "Thank you for understanding, Nijimura." She said before she disappeared in a flash.

 **Ohhhhkaaayyy, guys~  
Is this all right for you all? No, Nijimura doesn't know everything yet, but there's a time and place for everything :3**

 **Well, I hardly managed to finish this chapter, as I suddenly found out the ending was missing, from when Nijimura told her she should stay with Earthland, so I quickly wrote something to end it off properly. Don't know how I got the idea it was finished…. :/  
Well either way, it worked out in the end, no?**

 **Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and followed! You are angels, all of you!**

 **~Line464d**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 **Another time skip, so that we may progress the story to where I want it to go. ^-^**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Of course I don't own any of them. It would've taken quite another turn if I did. :3**

 **Earthland~**

It had been a while since Nijimura found out about her origins, and it had made everything much easier. Surprisingly much. She knew she now also had someone else, who would cover for her if necessary. Another insider besides Kozo, who of course knew that Nijimura knew about her situation.

However their conversation had also made her think a lot about the decision she was bound to make sooner or later. How could she choose between either of them? Yes, to many it would seem all arrows pointed towards Earthland. What with the shortened life and all.

But it wasn't quite as simple as that anymore. It wasn't just about her home-world and the decreased life any longer. It had turned much more complicated. Feelings always seemed to make it so.

She loved Fairy Tail and the family she had there. People who would support her through all of her troubles and battles. They were people she trusted and relied on more than anyone else.

Meanwhile, the Teiko team couldn't quite offer the same support. They didn't know her world, and even if they did, they wouldn't understand it, so trying to 'translate' and communicate her problems often proved difficult.

But that didn't matter. They all felt like younger siblings, too young to understand. In contrast to Fairy Tail though, here she didn't have to worry about whether she was a burden to them, because she knew she wasn't.

Yes, she knew she could always just quit the guild and find herself a normal job, but then she'd just be doing what Jude hoped. And she didn't want to do that. Besides, she was afraid she would lose the connection with them all, and definitely with the other guilds. It would also mean she probably wouldn't use her Spirits as much, and that would hurt her too. It wouldn't be much different from Earth then, in that aspect.

She could also just leave her keys on Earthland…

"Oi, Bunny!" She heard someone call, bursting her out of her thoughts. "Wake up, it's your turn." Gajeel told her, apparently getting impatient with her, although it could've only been a short moment of time.

She glared at him lightly. "I know, trash can." She almost growled back at him, annoyed he pulled her out of her thoughts like that. Rudely.

He was right though. It _was_ her turn. She was to play a one on one basket match against Gray. He was a medium between a powerhouse like Elfman and Gajeel and a speedster and technician like she was. His best plays were on the offense, where she would have to be on guard. Luckily he was very direct, like more or less all the other guys, so that made predicting his moves much easier.

So the best she could do was to take advantage of her speed and some of the small tricks Aomine had taught her as well as the general plays of Earth. Of course, she couldn't play that sort of basket fully, thanks to a certain someone.

She grinned at Gray. "Ready to get your ass kicked again, Gray?" She taunted him, or tried to, hoping it sounded cooler to him than it did her.

"LUCE! You better beat this Ice Freak!" Natsu called out from the crowd.

Gray smirked back at her, while sticking a middle finger out towards the pinkette. "You just try." He replied, before signaling for Mira to throw the ball up.

The beautiful maid stepped out in the middle of the court and met the other two there, standing with the hand holding the orange ball between them. "Okay, guys. Three goals wins. Ready?" She asked, looking at the two alternately, getting a nod in reply. "Three… Two… One…!" She called as she threw the ball up in the air and hurried out of the court again.

Lucy knew Gray had a longer reach than her, but if she just jumped a little faster…

She saw from the corner of her eyes Gray jump in slow-motion. She couldn't jump just yet, it'd be too early. She wouldn't reach it. She crouched slightly. Preparing to jump.

Now!

Her legs sprang up like a spring and she jumped at a much faster pace than the Ice Make mage. Both of their hands almost touched the ball now. Lucy did a quick spin midair, moving her hand around the ball and to his side of it. This, of course, surprised him, and gave her the chance to take the ball right under his nose.

Her whole palm touched the ball and she drew it with her down. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she did a swift pirouette around him and quickly dribbled towards the net. A second too late, she heard Gray set into motion, following her, but she was already at the arc. She quickly ran past it and jumped when she stood a little distance away from her goal. She threw it at the backboard and landed it in the net, scoring her first goal.

First of three.

She smirked at Gray as he ran past her, for now ignoring the applause of the crowd. "You better speed up, Gray. Otherwise you won't score a single goal on me." She taunted him.

Gray grunted in reply and simply picked the ball up as she made it back to her own half. The two made eye contact, before he burst into movement. He dribbled the ball quite fast down towards her, who stood just in front of the arc. He moved in zigzags across the court, trying to confuse her. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work. When he passed the midcourt, she began charging at him, which didn't seem to make him falter at all.

When she came close enough, he made the first moves to a crossover, probably in the hopes of passing her. However, as she had learned, there was no better point in time to seize the ball for you own. She jabbed her hand out like a snake would at its prey and pushed the ball out of Gray's hands.

Once again, she ran down the court unhindered. This time she decided to try her luck with a three-pointer, so she stopped up right in front of the arc, Gray right behind her again, as her feet released the ground and she pushed the ball out of her hands. It ran straight through the net without touching the board.

One goal to go.

She lifted an eyebrow at Gray challengingly. "Told you so." She said. She could almost see the steam in the air around the irritated mage. Or perhaps it was his magic… He picked the ball up and held it so hard between his hands that his knuckles turned white.

Well, he probably wasn't playing any more.

His stare was incredibly focused and determined, but with an inner rage fueling them from behind. Giving her a pair of seconds of that, he set into motion. He dribbled the ball into the ground roughly as he came running at her straight on. She watched him with slightly narrowed eyes. He had something planned, that was for sure. But she couldn't read him at all.

Not many of them were very good with long-shots and three-pointers in general, and Gray wasn't either, so that was out of the question. Then what was it?

She crouched down a little lower in preparation for whatever he would do, continuing to watch him intently as he ran towards her in a B-line, awaiting his next move. She kept telling herself that _now_ he would make a move. But he just kept dribbling towards her without any signs of doing anything else. In the end, they came so close they hardly needed to reach out to touch each other.

And now, he moved.

In an instant - or so it seemed - he shifted hands and dribbled past her. She quickly spun around, realizing he had done what he had in mind before. But Gray had already thrown the ball towards the net, hitting the backboard, and scoring after the ball took a round around the ring.

"Is that fast enough for ya, Lucy?" He asked her with a satisfied and triumphant smirk on his face.

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's perfect." She replied, knowing it would irritate him. She picked the ball up and played with it between her hands, her gaze locking with the ravenette's. For a moment, she kept it, not moving from where she stood. Then she felt her smile twist into more of a grin, similar to the ones Gajeel often carried around.

It was time to score the last goal.

"Let me show you how it's really done, Gray!" She said, already charging down the court, much in the same way he had just before, staring directly into his coal-black eyes. She let her 'inner animalistic instincts' out, and could easily feel how her moves got much smoother and quick. Gajeel would be proud.

In such a short time, she reached her opponent. But she didn't come as close as he had. Not losing any of the speed she'd built up, she did three quick crossovers, almost flashing from one side to the other. The last one, she did all up in Gray's face, then knowing he'd be a little baffled with her speed - she almost was herself - she skipped past him and ran towards the net. Without a second though as to what she was doing, she jumped from within the arc and all the way up to the ring, slamming the orange ball through it.

She landed on the ground easily. Only now, she realized just what she had done. She, little weak her, had dunked. She had jumped all the way up to the net, something quite a lot taller than herself, and dunked.

The loud applause woke her up from her surprise, and she saw Gray approaching her. "Well that was awesome, Lucy. Never knew you could jump so high." He said, raising his hand for a high five.

"No, neither did I." She muttered, mainly to herself, as she slammed her own palm into his, feeling a light stinging in it. Simply meant it was perfect.

"I'll beat you next time, though. So watch out." He told her, before being sneak attacked by Juvia, who stuck herself to his back. Lucy smiled, shook her head and went back to the stands.

She looked up, finding the spawn of evil standing right where she was headed. "Was that good enough for you, Gajeel?" She asked him. She was proud of her win, and his opinion wouldn't change that.

He grinned. "Gihi! The last goal was. The rest was meh." He told her, with a glint in his eyes. Lucy slapped his arm at his answer. Obviously, he was more satisfied with it then he let on, it just annoyed her he wouldn't admit it.

"That was amazing, Luce!" She heard Natsu say behind her, feeling his warm arm land around her shoulders a moment after. "You better fight me next time!" He said.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Of course Natsu!" She promised him.

 **Earth~**

Lucy woke up and looked around at her surroundings, trying to orient herself. She was on a bench, it seemed, stationed between a little path and one of many patches of grass, a big tree standing near it. In the distance, she saw a familiar fence. One she only saw at Teiko, of course.

She could also see a pair of people, standing with a soccer ball each and bouncing it on their feet or leg - whichever felt best for them. Or most showy perhaps. Sometimes even using their heads. Just to show off it seemed.

She looked a little closer at the two boys, seemingly competing against each other to see who could keep the ball in the air longest. At a first glance, it seemed like two completely normal Teiko boys, but… Well, then she noticed the blonde hair on one of them.

She got up from the bench and made her way towards what seemed like the soccer field. She was sure she knew that blonde boy, but couldn't confirm it with the distance. Coming closer, she could easily recognize the flat, golden hair and the caramel eyes framed by long eyelashes. Yup, there was no doubt. That pretty face could only belong to Kise.

She came to stand by the fence, as Kise kicked the ball up so high, it disappeared from sight. The other guy juggled his own ball a pair of times, before catching it in his hands, seeing as Kise's didn't reappear. He smirked at the taller blonde. "Seems you're not as good as you think." He taunted him.

Kise raised an eyebrow at this, and caught his own ball - which came slamming down from the heavens - and continued to juggle easily with it, at a normal level. "What did you say just now?" He asked him, a triumphant smile on his lips. He didn't even look at what he was doing, just did it. Finally, he did it a final time, before also catching it. "That's it then, I'm off the team." He said with a bored look.

The other guy bit together roughly, in an attempt at keeping his anger in, as he glared at the blonde. "I guess it is." He said through clenched teeth, before turning around sharply and walking away.

Her fellow blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What was that all about?" Lucy asked drawing his attention to her, though the fence.

"Huh?" He asked, not having felt or noticed her presence before now. "Oh! It's you, Lucy!" He greeted her, a big smile spreading on his face. "Ah, that was just the captain of the soccer team." He said, looking after the retreating back. "Nothing to worry about." He reassured the blonde girl with a bright smile.

She frowned in realization of what had happened. Kise had most likely gotten bored of soccer, feeling superior, too strong for it to be fun to play the game, maybe. Then, when he wanted to leave the team, the captain didn't want to, which lead to the competition just now.

"I was actually going to look for you." He then suddenly said, surprising her. "See… Uh, I sort of wanted to try basket." He admitted.

Lucy smiled widely. "That's not a bad idea, Kise." She said. Although, having him start out on the 1st string from the beginning probably was impossible.

"Yeah so.." He trailed of, then breathed in deeply. "Is it at all possible I could come on that training camp you're going on tomorrow?" He asked her. Time had really passed, recently. Was it already tomorrow?

Surprise was the only emotion showing on her face. For a moment, she couldn't even speak. "Well, I would love for you to come, but it isn't my decision to make." She said. She looked back towards the gym, where the team should be training right now. "But we can go ask those whose it is." She said and gestured towards the building. Kise nodded and the two of them began walking towards the building. "So.. What gave you this idea?" She asked, just to start a conversation.

"I once saw some of the training and thought it was worth a try, since soccer had become boring." He explained. So her theory was correct after all.

"Oh, I see." She said. It was lucky the gym was as close as it was, as it seemed their conversation was running dead. She smiled at the other blonde, before opening the door, and quickly finding everyone in the midst of training. "Nijimura!" She called out to the captain, who had just scored a goal. He turned towards them confusedly as Lucy gestured for him to come closer.

He excused himself to Sanada and came jogging towards the both of them. "What's up, Lucy?" He asked as he came to a stand in front of her and Kise, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Who's this guy?" He continued.

Lucy smiled. "This is Kise Ryota." She introduced him. "And he might be wanting to join the basketball team." She said, gesturing to the blonde, who made a little greeting.

Nijimura looked alternately at the two of them. "Okay…" He said, drawing the 'o' out. "So what does this have to do with me?" He then asked.

"Ah, it was just if he could come along on this training camp tomorrow?" She asked him.

Kise nodded. "I would appreciate it a lot." He said.

Nijimura sighed after a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt anyone." He relented. "We leave tomorrow at eight, you better show up." He said, before turning back to his training.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "All done, you just have to show up!" She told Kise.

Kise nodded and returned the smile. "Yes, thank you very much, Lucy. Couldn't have done it without you." He said with a wink, before walking away with a wave of his hand. "See you tomorrow." He said.

Lucy nodded and waved, after him. "Yeah! See you!" She called after him, rejoining the boys and Momoi in the gym.

 **Yes, yes, short chapter, I know. But you tell me what I could put into it other than this?**

 **Anyway, despite the length, I hope it's decent anyway.  
Well, for a while you guys have been asking me to write out how Fairy Tail plays basketball, so here, you got an idea of how they play, no?  
Also, Kise'll be more of a character in the future! Or so was the idea. Originally he'd first join in 2** **nd** **year, but I really wanted to introduce him to the team a little earlier.**

 **Thank you to all who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed!**

 **~Line464d**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

 **AH! I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE! For some reason I forgot all about it yesterday, guess it's because a lot has been happening this weekend... Well, here it is!  
Well, let the camp begin!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yes, so I obviously don't own either of the two stories. I wouldn't be writing a fanfic like this one if I did. **

**Earthland~**

"Yep, everyone's here. You can drive now." Kozo told the bus driver sitting at the front seat behind the wheel. The bus driver nodded and sent the long and very much unfamiliar vehicle into motion. Of course Kozo would be the one appointed with the task of making sure everyone was present.

Lucy gave him a smile as he swung in on one of the seats a few rows in front of her. He gave her a reassuring one in return, probably imagining and remembering how strange it was to be transported on a bus the first time.

She looked at the person seated next to her as she was nudged by said person's elbow. "Say, Lucy-chan, why are you so close to Shirogane-san?" Momoi asked the blonde in a hushed voice. After all, he was sitting basically right in front of them.

Lucy grinned and scratched the back of her head, wondering what she should say. "Well I guess we just have a lot of similarities and hit it off pretty well." She reasoned, not even lying this time around.

Momoi looked at her with a big, confused and dark pink set of eyes. Yet also shining with interest and curiosity. "Oh? How are you similar?" She asked curiously.

Now sweat born from slight panic appeared on the blonde's forehead. "I… He had the same interests as I do now when he was young. And apparently he also comes from the same place I do." She quickly said, hoping the somewhat naïve girl would take the bait and just believe her.

The pinkette nodded, her mouth the shape of an 'o'. "Oh, I see.. I didn't know he was from America too." She mumbled, probably mainly to herself. "So what kind of interests do you have in common?" She asked her.

Well, this she could probably get away with. "We're both very interested in the stars." She said. She couldn't believe Kozo wouldn't be, what with his magic being based on it and all.

She reached down to get her pouch off the belt and then figured it was probably for the best busses like these ones didn't exist on Earthland. The Dragon Slayers would destroy them before they even came out and driving.

She delinked the pouch from the belt and brought it up so Momoi could see too. "And we're both collectors." She added.

The pinkette looked at the brown pouch in wonder. "Oh! I've seen that thing hanging on your belt, but never knew what it really was." She said, her curiosity almost tangible in the air.

Lucy giggled at the girl's obvious excitement. "You should just have asked." She said and opened the pouch, pulling the golden and silver objects out of it. "These are my keys." She said and gently ran her fingers over them.

Momoi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Keys?" She asked, almost as if she believed Lucy to be crazy, but wanted to hide that face from her.

The blonde smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but they're not just any keys." She assured her. She singled out Aquarius' key. "See this?" She asked the other girl, pointing to the little mark at the handle of it.

Momoi nodded, not taking her eyes off the key, as if she would miss something important if she did. "Yeah." She replied somewhat absently.

She tapped the key just above the mark, feeling Aquarius' magic flow through her for a split second. "This shows which constellation it is supposed to represent. This is Aquarius." She explained to the girl. She looked up at the other girl, coming to a decision. "Aquarius also known as the Water Bearer, and a few others too, I got from my mother after she passed away." She said and released it from the keychain. "Want to try holding it?" She suggested. If she was right about this…

The pinkette looked up with big, surprised eyes. "Can I?" She asked incredulously. If Lucy had to guess, she would think the girl probably had thought the keys meant so much to her, she preferred no one touched them. Probably also because they had been from her mother.

But it wasn't like that at all. They were her friend and precious Spirits, no doubt, but they weren't only _her_ friends exclusively. Loke, to take the most obvious example, seeing as he had been and still was a part of the guild, was really close friends with Gray. Virgo, maybe a little more surprisingly, talked really well with Mira, as they both sometimes had a sadistic personality. Even more surprising was the fact that she and Gajeel also hit it off really well, having masked or unmasked - depending on the person - amusement with her struggles during training. Elfman and Taurus also spoke together quite well for perhaps more obvious reasons. And so the list continued.

So her Spirits definitely weren't just her friends, they were everyone else's too. The funniest pair in her opinion was probably Solarium and Makarov. Solarium was overjoyed to be put to work and Makarov loved the old turtle for repairing it all for free.

So, she nodded her head with a bright smile. "Of course you can." She reassured her. Besides, she was curious to see if her theory was correct after all.

Very carefully, the pinkette reached out for the single key and almost with shaking hands did she take the golden object from Lucy's hands and into her own. Almost as soon as it left the blonde's hand and came into Momoi's did the girl jump and gasp in her seat, although without throwing the key away.

She looked at the blonde with her big, pink eyes. "Lucy!" She said somewhat loudly, completely forgetting the usual suffix. "I felt something like water run through me when I touched your key!" She told the blonde excitedly. "It felt magical!"

Lucy giggled at her excitement. "That's what I thought." Usually her keys would react when they changed hands, but so far she had only done that with people from Earthland, not Earth. So it didn't seem like it was only for people of her own world. "They, especially Aquarius', do something like that when you touch it." She told her.

"Ohh.." She replied, although it was clear she didn't quite understand what she was being told. She'd also be surprised if she did. "They must be magical then!" She concluded and returned the key to the blonde.

The older girl smiled once again as she received her key again, getting an angry flush from Aquarius. "Maybe." She vaguely replied.

The conversation was halted as someone began hanging over their seats. "Oi, Heartfilia. Who's the pretty face in the back?" A voice which could only be Aomine's asked her. "Your long lost brother?" He added.

She turned halfway around to face him, finding him seated with his arms dangling from their backrests and his head secured between their seats, as he certainly shouldn't strain his precious neck because he held his head up by himself. "What makes you think he's my brother?" She asked him curiously.

Aomine seemingly rolled his eyes on the inside. "Oh, I don't know. The very much blonde hair, maybe?" He suggested sarcastically. "So if he isn't your bro, then who is he?" He asked her.

Lucy sighed. Somewhere in her mind, she thought she had already told them all about their guests, but it was only something she had imaged it seemed. "His name is Kise Ryota and he's here to figure out whether he wants to join the basketball team or not." She told him.

The blue haired boy raised a brow incredulously. "And why the hell did he decide on this trip right here and now?" He asked, almost sounding annoyed with the other guy's presence.

Lucy shrugged. "I wouldn't know, but he's here so be nice to him." She ordered, getting a grumble from him in reply. "Tell the others if they ask, Daisuki-chan!" She told him as he got up and went back to his seat next to Kuroko.

"Sure, whatever you say, boss." He teased her, not even looking back as he raised his hand in some sort of wave.

 **Later~**

"Girls go to the right and boys go to the left." Sanada ordered them all. He turned a sharp eye to all the boys. "I will hear of no exciting nightly excursions, is that understood?" he asked strictly, although it wasn't really much of a question.

Everyone nodded in unison. "Yes sir!" They said as if they were one voice. Lucy had to wonder if boys this age actually would do as the coach implied.

"Good." He stated and adjusted his glasses even though they hadn't seemed like they had been about to fall off or sit crookedly. "Shirogane and I will be in the adjacent room should you need us." He told mainly the guys as it seemed their rooms were on that side as well.

Kozo nodded. "Yes. Also, Kise Ryota, our guest during this trip will be in the same room as all of you guys, so please welcome him warmly." The elder man announced, gesturing to the blonde when he was mentioned. "Now then, you may go to your rooms and prepare them for tonight." He said.

"We will meet outside in half an hour, so don't take too long." Sanada said, barely making it over the noise of the boys having erupted into chatter.

Lucy smiled as she saw Aomine throw an arm around Kise's shoulders and dragging him after him into the boys' room. The blue haired teen had originally been a little skeptical of Kise, but sometime along the bus drive they talked together and became… Well, whatever they were now. More than acquaintances but not quite friends either.

She and Momoi also went to their room to unpack. "Oh! It's going to be so fun! The two of us alone without any of the guys!" She gushed excitedly with a bright beam.

Lucy nodded and smiled back at the girl. "It sure is!" She agreed. The two reached the door right as her sentence ended and Lucy gently pushed the door open to reveal what they'd be living in the next few days.

It wasn't a big room, but it had all they would need. Two bunk beds, four free beds, two for sleep, two in which they could throw their baggage in and not worry about it flooding the floor. To each bunk was a little night table, although it was easiest to use if one slept at the bottom beds. A big desk was stationed against the other wall with a big mirror, both in length and height, hanging above it. A pair of armchairs filled the space of a corner in the room. Other than that there weren't really anything else. The girl's bathroom was right on the other side of the hall, so they were also easily accessible. This place really didn't miss anything.

Momoi went to one of the beds and sat down on it, bouncing a little in her seat. "Well, it's definitely made for sports' teams like us." She commented.

Lucy nodded. The whole place seemed to have been built for that purpose only. "Yeah, also with that big room the boys will be sleeping in." She agreed. Apparently it was more than big enough for all of them, if not a team double the size of theirs.

The pinkette jumped up and lifted her baggage up on the top bunk and then followed after it. "It's so hot outside today, I think I will wear something lighter." She told the blonde.

Lucy looked through the window and saw the wide beach outside and a little further to the right there was an outdoor court. The sun was shining brightly out there, making the sand almost too bright to look at. "Yeah, I guess it is." She agreed. She was already dressed in something light enough, so she didn't need to change. Besides she had already been exposed to extreme heat and cold, so this wouldn't mean much in comparison. Almost no matter the weather at this point, she could wear anything and survive.

It didn't take Momoi long to change, but almost as soon as she was finished could the noise of the team be heard out in the entrance hall, so the two of them decided to meet up with all of them out there. Lucy smiled as she saw and approached the big group of guys walking towards the exit leading to the beach and the outdoor court. "They're treating you all right, now, aren't they Kise?" She asked the other blonde who was walking at the back of them all.

Although she asked, she had no doubt they did. Not only from the way Aomine had almost dragged the boy after him, but also now, where he was walking between Aomine - again - and Nijimura with Kuroko trailing close behind all of them.

Kise turned around with a bright smile and nodded. "Yes, they are all very nice!" He reassured her honestly.

Aomine turned around fully to face the blonde girl, using his height to tower up above her. "Are ya trying to say I'm some sort of judgmental jerk, Heartfilia?" He asked her threateningly.

But having been subject to many much more menacing kinds of people - _cough_ Gajeel _cough_ \- what he was trying to do wasn't working out for him at all. "Why, yes, that's exactly what I was saying, Daisuki-chan~" She said, remembering how he acted on the bus earlier.

The dark blue haired boy almost snarled - halfheartedly - at her. "You bi- OW!" He cut himself off as Kuroko's hand hit his head vertically.

Kuroko looked up at his friend expressionlessly as usual. "You don't call a girl by that word." He simply said and continued to walk off catching up to Momoi, Nijimura and Kise, who had left the two to their bickering.

"That damn.." He trailed off. Lucy reached up to ruffle his hair, knowing he'd hate it, before rushing off and away from him, deliberately ignoring his angry calls behind her.

She ran past the other four and up to Akashi, Midorima and Murasakibara, efficiently attracting their attention. "So, do any of you know why they summoned us out there?" She asked them. She had her own theory, but she wanted to hear theirs.

Akashi, one of the few who actually looked _up_ at her, answered. "I suspect it's so that we can commence training immediately." He said, the same thoughts she had. Midorima nodded in agreement and Murasakibara continued to chew on some snack.

They all stepped outside and saw Sanada and Kozo standing there, seemingly in the middle of a conversation, probably discussing what they were going to be doing. They both turned around when they noticed the whole team approaching them.

Everyone finally came to a stop in front of the two, although still chatting, and Sanada cleared his throat to silence them all. "For warmup, it has been decided you run down there-" He pointed to the right down the beach, which seemed completely empty. "Until you reach the first tourist spot and back here again." He told them.

Lucy sweat dropped internally. This gave her a feeling of déjà vu. It was way too similar to the torture a certain Iron Slayer put her through not too long ago.

Kozo looked around. "Now, has anyone seen Haizaki?" He asked. Lucy looked around as well. She knew he had come with them, seeing as he had wasted a little of his and her time on the bus being annoying towards her.

So, as he was not there right now, he was lazing around in the boys' room. "I'll go get him." She volunteered and was already jogging back towards the building again when it was accepted.

If that guy didn't give a little more of himself soon, he'd be left behind quickly. And it dragged down the general morale of the team that he never showed up.

She skipped into the guys' room and quickly found the teen playing on his phone in one of the beds, probably his own. "Haizaki! Come on, training is starting!" She said and began walking down towards him.

He looked up at her, a smirk forming on his face. "As if I'm here for the training." He said and looked her up from down.

It wasn't the first time she got comments like these from the guy, and she was really getting annoyed with it. Some may say Loke was doing the same thing, but with him she knew it was all just for fun. Haizaki was different. "It doesn't matter what you came here for, training is part of everyone's schedule." She said and pulled him up from where he was sitting.

Only reason that that was a success for her was because he wanted to get up. She almost groaned in exasperation when he used this opportunity to pull her in close. "I'm sure it can wait a bit." He said with a low voice.

Lucy almost felt like gagging. First off, this was not her type of guy. At. All. Second, he was 13. _Thirteen_. And third, he was more of an annoying half-brother to her than he was anything else. This, what he was doing, felt wrong. "No, it can't." She said and roughly grabbed the wrist of the hand which was getting too brave.

The grip she had on his wrist was much harder than it needed to, but she felt it was necessary. And it worked. All the guy could do was whine about her grip being too tight and how not sexy it was for girls to be so strong. Which only served for the purpose of her tightening her grip even further.

She smiled at the two coaches as she passed them. "I'm taking this one for a run." She said with a smile and a wave at the two, as she pulled the gray haired teen after her. She looked back at him from the corner of her eye. "Get ready for some intense running." She said with the kind of smirk Gajeel always wore. Although few, there were some good things about being with that Dragon Slayer.

 **Later~**

"She's… A mon… Ster…" Haizaki panted, seemingly almost about to collapse on the ground. She had taken him on a double round in her pace, which apparently was a little faster than what he had been used to.

"Oh come on now, it wasn't that bad." She said with a smile and swiped a single drop of sweat away from her forehead. Meanwhile he was drowning in his.

"Didn't know ya could run like that, Heartfilia." Aomine commented from where he was gently dribbling the ball. See, it took Lucy and Haizaki the same time to run those two times as it did for the others to run their one lap. After all, one had to sprint the last fourth of the trip.

She smiled as she saw others agree. "Oh, I've just been doing some light training recently." She reassured them. She looked down at Haizaki, who was still trying to catch his breath from the run. "The day's still not over yet, Haizaki." She said with a little grin. She was having too much fun with this.

"I can't… Done.. For the day." He gasped out. "Rest of the… Week." He added.

She hummed. "You certainly would like that, wouldn't you?" She asked him. "Now." She said and pulled him up by his arm. "Go train." She said and pushed him towards the court where everyone had begun training already.

He stumbled into the court and barely caught the ball thrown to him, before joining the other guys a little unsteadily. She giggled a little when she saw him losing control of the ball for a second, just to run into Murasakibara to catch it again. While Murasakibara didn't even seem to register it, Haizaki fell down at the ground as if he had run into a wall.

"Lucy." Someone said behind her. She turned around and saw Kozo, urging him to continue. "Would you mind helping me with some refreshments for them all?" He asked.

"I would love to!" She said and began walking towards the main building with him. "What do you have in mind?" She asked him.

"It's simple, really." He said as they both entered the big kitchen which could have half the team running around at the same time doing stuff. They'd probably arrange some sort of cooking-schedule, so everyone got the chance to explore their culinary abilities. "We need a box or something of the like, lemons and honey." He said.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Lemons and honey?" She asked. "That's a funny mix." She said confusedly. The honey was sweet and the lemon sour, sort of contradicting tastes to put together.

He chuckled and nodded. "Yes, it is funny indeed." He agreed. "But somehow the combination of the sour freshness of the lemons and the heavy sweetness of the honey is refreshing and still tastes good." He explained. "Would you mind finding the lemons in the fridge? There should already be some." He said.

"Of course." She said and went to the fridge. She opened the gray metal door and looked around for the yellow citrus. She found it in the bottom, in a little plastic drawer. She pulled the whole drawer out and placed it at the disk Kozo had chosen, readied with knives, a few boxes and a pair of small cutting boards.

She put the lemons on the table at the same time he placed the honey. She looked up at him, awaiting orders. "All right, now we need to cut the lemons, don't peel it, we need the zest, keeps it fresh." He said. "Like this." He said and began cutting the lemon, in fine, round slices.

Lucy nodded and quickly got to work, taking a lemon. While she hadn't been cutting citruses much in the way she was doing now, she quickly fell into the flow of it. She had made so much food, both with the cooks back at the Konzern, by herself, for Team Natsu for example and then also with Mira. She could cook blind if she had to.

She saw Kozo glance at her from where he was cutting lemon at not quite as fast a pace. "I thought you were an aristocratic child?" He asked, referring to her efficiency with a knife.

She smiled, but didn't look up from what she was doing - she had made that mistake once before already. "Yes, I am." She confirmed. "But I always liked to connect with the people working, and I especially loved to cook, so I often learned things when Jude wasn't looking. Of course, they never told on me either." She said with a tender smile as memories came rushing over her.

"Oh, I see." He said. "I'm guessing you're the one doing the cooking for your team then." He concluded, taking a new lemon and beginning to cut that up too.

She nodded. "Yeah I often do it for the five of us. I've also helped around with the whole guild once or twice, when there was need of it." She said and finished the last lemon. "What do we do with it now?" She asked him.

"Now we take the honey and mix it up with a bit of water, so it isn't so heavy, and then simply put the slices of lemon in." He explained to her. "Afterwards, we'll let it stay in the fridge to cool it down while we fill the bottles with water." He continued.

Lucy nodded. "All right, sounds good." She said. It wasn't a recipe she had heard before, perhaps it was Earth-only.

A fourth of the mix between honey and water had to be water, the three other fourths were honey. As they didn't have anything big enough for all of it, they had decided to spread it out in smaller boxes as well. It seemed they had made a little much of it though, so there'd at least be enough for tomorrow. Maybe even the day after that too.

"Okay, so now it's going in the fridge while we fill all the bottles with water?" She asked, just for confirmation.

Kozo nodded. "Exactly." He said as he lifted the case holding the empty bottles up next to the sink for convenience's sake.

Fortunately, there were two sinks - four actually, but who's counting? - in the kitchen, so she grabbed the other case and lifted it up, just like he had done. One bottle at a time, she began filling them with the cold water from the sink.

For a moment, there was silence between them, but then he broke it. "You haven't tried staying here more than a pair of days, have you?" He suddenly asked her.

She was surprised with the sudden question, halted for a second, before replying. "Yep, I've only stayed that one time." She said with a nod.

"Oh, right. I remember." He said. "Not the most entertaining night, was it?" He asked with a chuckle.

Lucy smiled and giggled. "That'd be a shame to say." He said with a shake of her head. That was a night, she preferably didn't want to repeat.

"Well…" He said, drawing her attention back again. "I believe you're in for a longer stay this time." He told her.

She looked up and at him confusedly, forgetting the half-filled bottle in her hand. "What do you mean?" She asked and gasped when the water ran up and over the bottle and down her fingers.

He screwed the top on the last bottle and looked up at her. "I have my suspicions that this stay of yours may last the entire trip." He said and placed it in the case.

Lucy also finished her last bottle and placed it in the case. "Well, I think you might be right about that." She said. Usually, when she only stayed that one day, she would have been going home long ago, to Earthland. Now almost an entire day had passed, 12 hours or so. Much longer than she could ever remember staying, unless it was to stay the night.

The atmosphere was heavy for a moment, before Kozo lifted it. "Well, shall we go out?" He asked and took the two cases with bottles. "Will you take the lemons?" He asked.

She nodded and opened the fridge. "Of course." She said and grabbed the boxes with slightly cool lemons.

 **Later~**

"Ahhh… Today was tough." Aomine moaned as he fell backwards and down on the floor. After having finished their training and eating dinner, they had all gathered in the boys' room before they were going to bed. "Slavedrivers." He complained.

Kise grunted. "Didn't look that hard to me." He commented.

Lucy giggled at him. "Well maybe you should take a run with me tomorrow then, Kise." She said with a smile.

A faint 'Noooooo' could be heard from Haizaki, who had apparently been traumatized by the run. Which, in turn, seemed to scare everyone else as well. Kise looked frightened at the thought anyway. "N-no, I think I'll be fine." He reassured her, shaking his head furiously.

"Hmm…" She said with a thoughtful expression. "What a shame, I'm sure it could have been fun." She said with fake disappointment.

Aomine sat up and grinned at her and everyone else. "I'll do it!" He said proudly. "I'll run with ya, Heartfilia." He repeated.

Haizaki snorted. "Go ahead. Just means much less noise for us." He said from the bed he was lying on, once again playing on his phone.

Midorima finished the last of the bandages around his hands. "Indeed, it would be quite comfortable without the constant war cries during practice." He agreed.

"Oi, guys!" The blue haired exclaimed. "I thought we were more than that."

"Be nice to Dai-chan~" Momoi said and grabbed her friend's arm. "He's not as smart as everyone else." She excused him.

The whole room burst into laughter - more or less - as the offended teen looked at his childhood friend with an incredulous expression, like he'd never expected she could say something like that about him, completely speechless.

Suddenly she had a flashback to one of the many missions she had been on with her Team. Just like now, they had all been sitting in the one room they all shared - there was no need for that kind of privacy between them after all. Just like now, they were having fun as they talked together, teasing each other. Happy had said something alike what Momoi did for Aomine, but for Natsu instead.

Without realizing, her bright smile had dimmed to something more caring and delicate. "Thinking of your friends back home?" She heard Nijimura ask next to her.

She looked at him and let a corner of her mouth rise a little. "Yes… I had a sort of déjà vu just now. It reminded me of the times we spent on the road." She said, hoping to keep their conversation normal even to the others.

"I see." He said and for a moment they simply relented with watching the others talk and have fun. "Do you miss them?" He then asked her, breaking the silence between them.

She sighed, pulled her knees up and rested her arms around them. "Well… Yes, yes I do." She said and looked back at him. "But if I was with them, I'd be missing you and everyone here too." She reassured him, knowing what he was thinking. That she only cared for her friends at Earthland.

He gave her a little smile. "I'm glad to hear it." He said earnestly. "I'm guessing you did some training with them too. No one runs like you did today without practice first." He said with a smile.

She giggled and nodded. "Of course." She said and smiled at him. Until now, she hadn't realized how freeing it was to be able to talk about this with someone, without having to worry about revealing something she didn't want to by accident. How much she had needed to could do this. Well, apart from Kozo. "Actually, not too long ago I was doing some training on a beach as well, which included a lot of running." She told him.

"Ah, then it makes sense you did so well." He said and nodded thoughtfully.

Their attention was brought away from the dying conversation and towards the group when loud speaking and rambunctious laughing turned into low whispers and amused chuckling.

What they saw made the two of them join the rest. Aomine was looking somewhat embarrassed as Momoi seemed to have fallen down on his lap, fast asleep. From what it seemed, she had probably slipped down from leaning on his shoulder. The funny part of it though, not only was Aomine embarrassed, when the others teased him about it, he either got protective of the pinkette or turned even more into a tomato. Sometimes even both.

Lucy got up from where she sat and brushed off nonexistent dust. "Well, I believe it's time for us to go to bed anyway." She said and approached the blue haired teen. "Let me just-"

"Let me help you carry her to your room." Nijimura cut her off firmly. It was clearly not up for discussion. She smiled at him gratefully, although she could have easily carried the little girl herself. She hadn't been training months on end for nothing.

With a little team-effort, they managed to get the little girl up in the guy's arms and the two began walking to the exit. "Goodnight, everyone!" Lucy said and waved at them all just as they reached the door.

"I can make place for one more in my bed, Lucy." Haizaki told her, tapping the mattress he was to sleep on.

She smiled deviously back at him. "I'll make sure to tell that to Sanada-san." She reassured him, sending the room into another bout of laughter as she sent the gray haired flirt of a boy a wink, while he was probably in shock at what he was imagining.

She closed the door behind her, as Nijimura had gone out before her. "It's the first room over there, right?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's the one." She confirmed for him. "Thank you for helping me out though." She said with a smile.

He looked down at her with a lightly raised brow. "Ah, don't worry. I do know you could have done this by yourself." He said, which made her giggle. "It just didn't sit right with me to let a girl do something like this." He then added.

She laughed at this. "Oh, what a gentleman you are." She said and opened the door to the girls' room. "We need some of your kind back at Earthland, on the top of my head, I can only count one. One true one, anyway." She said and rolled her eyes at the thought of the Trimen especially. Now, the one true and genuine gentleman she could find was Freed. And it was only because of his upbringing.

The 2nd year snorted. "Oh, there aren't many of us left here either." He reassured her and placed the pinkette at the bed the blonde guided him to.

He turned around and scanned her face for a moment, keeping quiet as he did so. "Uhm…" She said somewhat awkwardly. "What are you doing? Do I look funny?" She asked, straightening her hair out, wondering if that was it.

He quickly shook his head. "No, no. That isn't it!" He promised her. "I'm just surprised you don't seem tired yet, it's getting quite late." He said.

"Oh…" Lucy said and leaned against her bunk bed's ladder. "Yes, that doesn't really matter much for me, at least not here." She said. Back at Earthland, she would get tired naturally, but it seemed different here.

Nijimura adopted a confused frown on his face. "What do you mean?" He asked her.

"Remember how falling asleep is the trigger to slipping to the other world?" She asked him. He nodded. "Back at Earthland, I get tired naturally if I work out all day, but here..." She trailed off, wondering how she should put it. "Well, it works differently here. It isn't about exhaustion or such, it's about the reason I'm here, what's important that specific trip." She explained. He nodded slowly, giving her a sign of listening. "So, I don't get tired until it's time to go." She said.

He took a second to process the information he was given. "All right. So when do you expect to go home? If you have any idea." He asked her.

She still hadn't told Nijimura about Kozo, seeing as it wasn't her secret to tell, so she obviously couldn't mention him telling her it'd probably be the entire trip. "Well, I think I'll be staying the entire trip, actually. I'm not sure though." She said.

The black haired teen nodded. "I see." He said. "It's going to be a fun trip with you around." He reassured her, to which she just smiled. "Well, I better get back. Goodnight and I'll see you tomorrow." He said and went towards the door.

She pushed away from the ladder and smiled. "Yes, goodnight to you too, Nijimura." She said and closed the door behind him after he left. "Right…" She muttered to herself. "Another hilarious night to get through…"

 **All right. First chapter of this training camp of Teiko's. Hope you liked it~ ^-^**

 **Also… Did you notice? This chapter was actually 5.000 words! 6.000 even! You guys deserve it, after all the shorties I've been giving you lately.**

 **Ah, yes, I don't actually know the recipe for the lemon-thing, only that it was with honey and lemon. I looked a little around, but got confused and just took the simplest one. Don't know if it's right though. I apologize if it isn't _"**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favorited! As always, it is very much appreciated.**

 **~Line464d.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 **Can't believe we're already at chapter 34 though…. 34 weeks more or less consecutively ._."  
Or that we in 7 reviews' time will be on a quarter of a thousand ._. It's crazy! Besides that, we've already passed the 150 mark for followers and are ten away with the favorites! You. Are. Amazing. Guys!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Unlike those two crazy people there, I can't write such a story… So no, only this things is half mine**

 **Earth~**

"So what did you manage to spend your night with?" Kozo asked Lucy lowly as they both stood at the side of the court, overseeing the boys' practice.

The blonde sighed heavily at the memory of the - at the time - seemingly eternal night as she waited for everyone to wake up. "Well… After tucking Sat-chan in, I sat in the bed for what was probably a half an hour tops, but felt like infinitely many. Of course, I had to figure something out, if I sat there in that silent room the entire night, I might as well have surrendered my sanity beforehand." She said dramatically.

The Shirogane chuckled at her words. "Well, that would have been unfortunate, had that been the case." He admitted with an amused smile. "But I reckon you still have your sanity, so what did you do?" He repeated his earlier question.

The blonde crossed her arms, finding herself comfortable in that position. "I went out and tested my magical power here." She said in a low voice. After all, it was not something she wanted so easily revealed. "The most I could summon was Solarium, who lies somewhere in between the silver and gold keys." She explained. "I could keep him out for about five minutes, then I ran dry, also from the previous test-summons as well." She told him.

He looked down at her, as he was one of those tall people too, sporting a surprised expression. "That's quite a feat, Lucy. It took me a little above a year to manage summoning Angelis, who is the lighter of the two I own." He said with a sigh. They were lost keys too, so the magic required for both of them were more or less equal.

Lucy shrugged lightly, trying to disguise the surge of pride she felt at his admission. "Well, I'm guessing it may be because I own as many gold keys as I do and use them frequently." She reasoned.

Kozo nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds like a realistic reason." He agreed. "Anyway, I'm sure you're not done with your report of your nightly experiences." He said, urging her to continue.

Momentarily wondering why he was so curious, she continued the tale of how she prevailed over the boredom of the night. "Mmh, of course, the night was long. Next, I decided to go through what I could of Gajeel's training program - push-ups, running and all that." She told him. "But, when I came to the part where I would usually practice hand-to-hand, I found it quite difficult without a partner. Luckily Loke-" She cut her sentence off and quickly corrected herself so that he wouldn't be confused. "Leo came to the rescue through his own power and offered to fill in for Gajeel however long he could manage." She explained.

The elder man nodded. "Ah, I see. So that's why you were in the baths when Aomine burst in without a second thought earlier." He reminded her with a chuckle.

Lucy sighed, but not without a smile as the scene popped up in her memory. "Yes, I remember that quite clearly." She said with a giggle.

The boy had apparently been searching for her, ready to begin training. After all, he had promised to run with her, a decision he would soon regret, as Haizaki had foreseen.

The expression the young boy had gotten as he realized he had intruded on her bath-time in the _women's_ room, brought a smile to her face every time. He had first been smiling from ear to ear, but then realization set in and the bright smile turned into a pink and flustered expression.

She heard the man chuckle next to her. "Well, I believe you scared everyone into showing up to training with that vigorous running of yours." He said amusedly. "Haizaki was even five minutes early."

"Well, that's once in a lifetime." She said. Even showing up five minutes late was rare for him. It was at least ten minutes plus.

"Unfortunately so. He is quite talented." He said with a nod. "Well, we can only hope he keeps it up even beyond this trip." He said to which Lucy nodded, sending the both of them into silence as they got caught up in each of their thoughts.

Haizaki was talented, no doubt about that, but if he didn't keep his training up, the others would run away from him. It was never only about having the talent, it was also about maintaining it.

 **Later~**

While Momoi and Kozo had gone in to get refreshments ready for everyone, Lucy was left alone with Kise, both sitting in the sand and watching training silently.

That was until the male blonde decided to break it. "I have made a decision." He suddenly said, not taking his eyes from the game in front of him, his eyes almost gleaming. "I want to play basketball."

The female blonde beamed at him. "Really?" She asked happily, glad that he had made that decision.

He nodded, finally looking at her. "Yeah. Watching all this has made me very interested in it." He told her, looking back at the court again. "Hopefully it won't get boring as all the other things…" He muttered to himself. Or so was the intention.

Lucy shook her head with a smile. "Oh, don't you worry. If not in the 3rd or 2nd strings, then you will definitely find yourself challenged against these guys." She said and watched as Midorima made one of his slightly ridiculous three-pointers. "Everyone on this team are very talented at what they're doing." She promised him. If anything, that they certainly were.

He looked at her, brow raised in the air. "How can you be so sure it'll be any different than soccer?" He asked her. During the evening get-together she had asked about that thing with the soccer team to confirm if what she had thought was right. Turned out it was. And she had also learnt something else about him as well.

She smiled knowingly at him. "While I may not know your previous teams, I know this one." She reminded him and returned her gaze to the court, where everyone had begun playing the little match against each other, as they always did at the end of training to end it off. Who to begin with… Oh yes! "See Haizaki over there?" She asked and gestured to where he was sitting on the 'bench', waiting for it to be his turn.

Kise nodded as he followed her gaze. "Yeah, I see him." He said. "What's with him?" He asked her confusedly.

"Your weird ability to could do anything after just watching it done once in not unlike what he can do." She explained. It was almost like these guys had magic just like she did, what with being able to copy things so easily and all. "Except his is a little different. Instead of simply copying it, he _steals_ the moves of the other person." She told him.

The other blonde frowned in confusion. "Steals them? How can he do that?" He asked.

"Well… Put simply, he takes a move he sees his opponent do and does it himself, just like you. Only he twists and adjusts the move so that it fits him." She said. "When the original owner of the move sees this slightly altered version of it, he can never perform it himself again." She told and sort of warned him at the same time. You never knew with that guy.

But he certainly would be served an ass-kicking if he ever stole a move from the others from him team. If not by Kozo or Sanada, then by her. The. _End._

"Oh… Wow." Kise said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "That's awesome - but also a little scary." He said with an excited and light voice. Although it sounded as childish as it did, she knew he was listening intently to what she was saying and would remember it.

With that, she continued to explain the weird abilities and strengths of the 1st string.

Nijimura and his strong drives, Murasakibara and his unbreachable defense and more than tough offense, Akashi and his exceptional leading skills and his handling of the ball which left nothing to be desired, Midorima and his outrageous three-pointers, Aomine and his wild mix of proper- and street basket and lastly Kuroko and his strange ability to vanish from sight and his incredibly precise passes.

"So don't worry, everyone here will give you a run for your money." She reassured him. She straightened up in her seat as she got an idea. "While I may not be as good as all of them, I'm not completely useless. So what do you say to playing a little with me when they're done and in the baths?" She suggested.

The younger blonde nodded energetically. "Yeah! That sounds fun!" He said, already shining with excitement at the idea of her suggestion. "But… I don't know anything about basketball other than what I have seen here, on this trip." He said and scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile.

Lucy waved her hand in front of her dismissively. "Oh, that won't be a problem. I'll teach you all you need to but don't know" She promised him. After all, she had learnt a lot already. "It's not like it'll be the first time." She muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" he asked her, having heard her unclear mumble.

She quickly shook her head. "Oh, no! It was nothing!" She reassured him. "I think they're about done out there now, so let's go!" Se said and motioned for him to follow her as everyone made their way towards the main building.

 **Later~**

"Ah, Lucy, Momoi. I was looking for the two of you." Someone said as the two girls exited their room after having taken a long bath.

Lucy was surprised to see Kozo standing with a paper in his hands. "Oh, Kozo. What can we do for you?" She asked him politely.

"It seems we're missing a few ingredients for the curry tonight." He told them. "And I'm afraid the boys can't begin before we have all the ingredients." He said with a deep sigh. "Could I get the two of you to go to the nearby market and get the last ingredients?" He asked them hopefully.

Momoi smiled brightly and nodded. "Of course, Shirogane-san!" She said and took the list he handed them.

The man chuckled. "Just call me Kozo, Momoi. Otherwise I'm afraid it may become a very long trip." He said with a kind, grandfatherly smile. Although a little shocked, the pinkette nodded. "Anyhow, thank you very much girls. I really appreciate it." He said as he turned around and walked towards the kitchen, where he had probably left the guys who were supposed to cook.

"Say, Sat-chan…" She trailed off, getting the pinkette's attention. "Do you remember who will be cooking today?" She asked as the two of them began moving out of the building through the front entrance.

"Uhm…" She said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Well, I think it was Muk-kun, Haizaki and Dai-chan." She said. She looked at the older blonde confusedly. "Why do you ask?"

Lucy sighed as they walked down the street, cold sweat breaking out. "I just wanted to know what I should expect for dinner tonight." She said. "Seems it's going to be… Interesting." She commented. She hadn't really had those three cook for her before, and chances were they were actually good. But those chances had to be very small…

Momoi giggled. "With Muk-kun there, I wonder if there will be anything at all." She commented amusedly.

Lucy laughed. "That's true." She said. "I had been more worried about the end result though. I wonder if Atsushi-kun will even touch it at all." She said, to which Momoi laughed and nodded. "Anyway, what is it we have to get?" She asked, gesturing to the list as the market came into sight.

"Oh, uhm, it was…" She mumbled and fiddled with the paper, checking the list over quickly. "Seems they need carrots and… Rice? Thought we'd have at least enough of that." The pinkette said.

Lucy nodded as she also looked down at the list. Rice was one of the most normal parts of a dish in Japan, it'd be the first thing they would have control of. Normally. "Well, it seems we'll probably get something to eat no matter how much they mess up the curry. I'll be impressed if they manage to mess up a simple salad." She said as she saw the list also contained cucumber, salad, apples and the like.

"I know Dai-chan can do at least that much. We often made the salad together when we were younger." Momoi reassured her. "But I don't think his curry would be any good…" She muttered.

Lucy giggled as she took one of the baskets by the entrance. "Well, Kozo is with them, so in the end it should be all right I hope." She said. Kozo could cook… Right?

They quickly found all they needed to get, seeing as most of it was from the same region in the market. Quickly finishing it off at the disks, they began walking back towards their temporary home, bag in hand.

"Well, if it turns out too horrible tonight, we could go get something to eat out. What do you say to that idea?" She suddenly requested, remembering the conversation they had had just a little while ago.

"Huh?" The other girl asked in surprise at the sudden topic. Then, after a short moment of confusion, she realized what the blonde meant. "Oh. Yes! I think I saw a okonomiyaki stand by the beach earlier today. If worst comes to worst, we could go there?" She offered. It must have been something she had seen during practice, so it couldn't be far away from the main building.

Lucy smiled widely and nodded. "That sounds really good! I've yet to taste okonomiyaki here from Japan." She admitted. She had heard it mentioned on the hallway countless times, but never came around to taste it herself.

The girl gasped loudly and looked at her with an expression of surprise. "What?! You haven't tasted okonomiyaki before?!" She asked as if she had committed a grave sin. Maybe she had.

The blonde shook her head with an amused smile. "No, never." She confirmed.

The younger of the two held her breath, utterly shell-shocked at the information. "It's decided." She then stated firmly, beginning to breathe again. Just as the blonde was about to ask her to elaborate, she did. "If not tonight, then sometime during this trip, you _will_ taste okonomiyaki!" She decided for her.

Lucy laughed and nodded, completely fine with the decision the other girl had made. "I would like that very much!" She said happily. She had actually been wanting to taste it for the longest time, so that was the perfect resolution the pinkette had come to.

Said pinkette nodded curtly as the two of them approached the main building. "Good, 'cause it isn't debatable." She said with her best 'strict' voice. As it turned out, she couldn't be strict at all, it was merely a cute attempt.

"Oh, I see you have returned." Were the first words presented to the two of them as they entered the building. "Thank you for your effort girls." Kozo thanked them.

Lucy smiled and handed him the bag. "Oh, we don't mind it at all." She reassured him as he took the bag out of her hands.

Momoi nodded and beamed next to her friend. "Yeah! We were having fun with it!" She chided in. "It had to be done after all, and the guys would be no good!" She said and giggled.

Kozo chuckled and nodded as well. "Indeed." He agreed. "Well, I hope you have a back-up plan for tonight.." He said with a regretful tone as he began moving towards the kitchen, where those three guys were probably waiting.

 **Later~**

Just like the previous day, today had also been very eventful from the beginning till the end. The interruption in the baths marked the beginning, then talking about basketball with Kise and immediately after playing it as well.

As expected from what he had told her, mastering basketball and its basic elements was child's play for him, right from the start really. And it had also solidified his resolution to play the game. Now all there needed to be done before he could join was that Kozo should evaluate his skill and place him in the correct string. That would be done sometime during this camp. Exactly when was still up in the air.

Anyway, after the ordeal with Kise, she and Momoi had gone to the baths, after which they were sneak attacked by Kozo and had went shopping for the curry, which went horribly wrong. As they had expected.

The rice was way overcooked and disgustingly mushy. Meanwhile they managed to undercook the meat and not even peel the carrots at the same time. Impressively they even messed up the salad. Not only did Murasakibara feel like having a snack at the time, the slices were either ridiculously large or just as ridiculously small.

So, everyone had gone to the okonomiyaki stand to avoid any future upset stomachs. As was the impression she'd gotten over time, the little snack was really delicious. Well, maybe it was because she had been surrounded by all these wonderful people, she couldn't say.

Even after having eaten, they all stayed together and had had fun together, watching the beautifully burning red sunset. She couldn't remember ever watching the sun go down over the horizon of an ocean, but she knew that this wasn't the last time she would do something like this.

They only began making their way back when the sky had been completely black and star dotted for a while. They had only the light of the stars and moon to guide them back, and although they stumbled in the sand a little more or less all them, it was only Momoi who fell.

Almost, anyway.

Of course she was caught before she hit the ground. Not by her childhood friend, Aomine or the otherwise surprisingly gallant Nijimura. No, none of them. Instead, it was little, cute Kuroko who had caught her.

Lucy smiled softly to herself as she remembered the expression the pinkette had sported back then. She could almost see two thumping hearts replace the girl's eyes as she looked up at her savior.

Well, she would probably have to watch out for those two possibly-lovebirds-to-be and make sure people like Aomine wouldn't butt in and complicate things.

Because he certainly could if he decided he would become Momoi's overprotective big brother. Or even worse... If he went and got a crush on the girl himself.

Lucy shook her head and giggled at her own silliness, it probably was just her overly imaginative mind as a writer which kicked in. Luckily there was no one on the beach, everyone had gone to sleep already.

Of course Aomine wouldn't fall in love with Momoi. If he was to, he would have done so long ago. Besides, as someone being close to them both, she didn't feel any such intentions coming from either of them when they were together. No stolen glances, no secretiveness or weird smiles. And most importantly, no awkwardness between them. None at all.

So that was definitely just her imagination getting the better on her. Which seemed to become an increasingly common occurrence as she continued to write as she did.

Back at Earthland.

She picked up some sand and absentmindedly began to play with it as her thoughts stretched around her, far and wide.

She had been feeling a weird pressure-like feeling all day. As if something was tugging at her heart the entire time. Even with everything which had happened these days, both at the end of yesterday and all of today, it had never disappeared. At least not completely.

While she hadn't used much time trying to figure out what it could be then, she knew what it was now, without even having to think much about it.

She missed her team, Fairy Tail. Everyone who wasn't here.

She knew she was being selfish, but she really wanted to be with all of them, both Earthland and Earth, all the time. She didn't want to choose between them, both sides had become close friend, maybe even family, to her.

Why did she have to make this decision? Wasn't the point of throwing her into another world to see where she would fit in? Then what if the perfect solution for her was to stay and keep both worlds and the friends in it? Why wasn't that a possibility for her?

All these questions, but no one to answer them. What was she to do?

She sighed deeply and looked down at what her fingers had traced in the sand all by themselves. The Fairy Tail insignia. The fairy with a tail.

"Hmm… That's the same mark as the one you have on the back of your hand, isn't it?" Someone asked behind her. She jolted at the sudden break of silence as well as her stream of thoughts and looked back at the person, who had sneaked up on her. "Ah, sorry. Did I surprise you?" Midorima asked with his hands raised in the universal sign of giving up.

Lucy smiled at him. "Well… It's all right." She reassured him, deliberately not answering his question, seeing as she would hate to admit she had been really shocked with his sudden appearance. And it would be completely impossible for her to make up a story for the insignia. "What are you doing up so late?" She asked him as he sat down next to her.

"I could ask you the same question." He retorted. "You do realize it's beyond eleven, do you not?" He asked, fiddling around with what seemed to be a feather.

She smiled at his swift reply. "Yeah, but my sleeping-disorder is preventing me from getting any sleep right now." She explained and saw confused understanding in his eyes. "Now then, what's your excuse?" She asked.

"Well.." He muttered as he seemed to check his bandaged fingers over. "I couldn't sleep either." He weakly answered.

Lucy smirked at him. "Hm? Is that all?" She asked, knowing there had to it than that.

He gently shook his head. "No, I also wanted to see the stars just once while we were on this trip. Beautiful and uninterrupted by the city lights." He said and looked up at the starry heaven.

She followed suit and looked up as well. "I didn't know you had an interest in stars, Shin-kun." She commented.

He nodded his head. "I really do." He said. "They're so far away, yet shine with such brilliance. They form images simply by sitting where they do, appointed by god to make up big constellations." He said lowly as he studied them. "And even when they falter and die, they still quite possibly turn into supernovas and live on, but in another form." He continued.

It had been a while since she heard someone else speak of the stars so passionately. It was refreshing. "Yeah, they're amazing." She agreed, finding his explanation left nothing to be desired. She looked down at the feather he was twiddling in his bandaged hands with wonder. "What's with the feather?" She finally asked curiously.

He looked down at it as if he hadn't realized he had brought it with him before just now. "Uhm… Well, it's my lucky item for the day." He explained curtly.

This made her furrow her eyebrows in confusion of his explanation. "Your lucky item?" She asked, now almost even more curious than before.

He nodded. "Yes. The feather was the item which would bring the horoscope Cancer luck today." He said and held it up a little for the both of them to see.

Lucy smiled but was still a little confused. "What would you need a lucky item for?" She asked.

He didn't remove his eyes from the light object even as he spoke "Man proposes, god disposes." He said, dropped his hands to his lap and looked at the blonde. "I am a man that proposes, I always carry my lucky item of the day with me as my horoscope says." He told her. "That is why my shots never miss." He answered.

Although it was sort of beating around the bush, she had finally gotten her answer. "So that's why you never miss?" She asked him curiously. She would never have guessed he was a religious kind of person, it seemed she learned something new about these boys every time she talked to them.

He nodded and looked out over the horizon in front of them, where it was impossible to tell where the sea ended and the dark sky began. "That's what I would like to believe." He said and pushed his glasses up.

Now, Lucy personally wasn't much of a religious person herself, so although Midorima believed in this, she didn't really. She did however believe in the fact that the boy had god-like precision.

She looked up at the sky and smiled as she saw one of the many constellations she knew and recognized. Although she actually would be able to recognize them all by now. "I know you like stars-" She had just learned that after all. "But do you recognize the constellations?" She continued to ask as she kept her gaze locked on that specific constellation.

Midorima looked at her, then saw where she was looking and followed her gaze. "Of course." He replied matter-of-factly. "That one is Cancer, my horoscope." He said. "I know at least the Zodiac constellations." He reassured her.

"Hmm?" She asked with interest, never taking her eyes from the gorgeous night sky which revealed so many stars in comparison to what she was used to. "How many do you know?" She asked him. Her team back at Earthland hadn't even memorized the Zodiacs yet and Natsu could only recognize Orion because there were three stars perfectly lined up on a line. Although he seemed to forget the name of the constellation quite often.

The green haired boy hummed a little as he thought about it, probably to let her know he was listening. "Probably around 30 - not counting the Zodiac." He told her, which actually really impressed her. "What about you?" He inquired, looking towards her.

She smiled. "All the current 88 ones and a lot of the dead ones too." She said and looked at him, snickering when she saw him looking at her flabbergasted and gaping. "Is it so surprising? I had to do _something_ when I was bored and stuck in my room when I was little after all." She reminded him. That and the fact that her magic was based on it. It just felt wrong to her if she didn't know at least the current constellations. The reason she knew some of the dead constellations was purely out of interest.

He nodded slowly. "Yes, it's quite impressive to have memorized all of 88 constellations as well as some of the dead ones. No matter how long time you have to practice." He told her.

Her smile was almost a laughing one as she directed it at him. "I will take that as a compliment, and thank you." She said.

The boy looked over the sea, which reflected the moon and the brightest stars clearly, seeing as there was next to no wind at all to create any waves - which made the beach quite silent. "You should and you're welcome." He responded and they both sat quietly, enjoying the beautiful sight for a few moments. Midorima got up from where he sat with a little sigh and brushed off his clothes. "Well, it's getting quite late." He said and nodded to her. "I will go and get some rest for now. You should too, if you don't want to be completely drained of energy tomorrow. I believe Aomine wanted to give that run another shot." He warned her.

Lucy giggled. "Oh, he can try all he wants." She replied. "But you just go on ahead, I think I'll enjoy this view a little longer." She said.

"Ah, I understand." He said and looked at it all again, seemingly entranced by the mesmerizing beauty of it for a moment before forcing himself away from it. "Then goodnight Lucy." He said, pushing his glasses up as he looked down at her.

She smiled kindly back at him. "Yeah, goodnight Shin-kun. See you tomorrow." She said and waved at him as he began walking back to get some sleep.

She pulled her legs up and locked her arms around them, gazing out at everything in front of her, a little smile evident on her face. So Aomine hadn't gotten scared to death like Haizaki at her running, eh? She had a dtrsnge feeling he wouldn't be the only one braving her pace tomorrow for some reason…

"I have to ask all of you a question though, and I know this is sorta sneaky, but are any of you from Spain? Preferably from Valencia, but everything else works too." Line464d, the author of BaS - Basket and Stars, this story, you know? - asks her readers. "I'm really sorry, but I'm doing a Spanish project-ish thing, and need to talk to someone from Spain!" She said and bowed deeply at her readers. "Please forgive me! And tell me if you are…"

 **And that's that~**

 **Anyway, so hope you didn't mind my weird little… Well whatever it was, but that was the only way I could be certain you would read it XD And I hope some of you will reply. Basically, it's just asking a few small questions about the stereotypes of Spain, so…. Yeh.**

 **As I'm sure you noticed by now, Lucy is more or less on first-name basis with everyone on the team now. And in case you forgot, Midorima's full name is 'Shintaro Midorima', which is where 'Shin' comes from ^-^  
And I hope you liked that little scene between the two of them!**

 **But, of course, I also hope you liked it! Thank you to you all, who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed to my story!**

 **~Line464d**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 **Sooooo~ Third day of the trip ^-^  
Ah yes, thank you, everyone, for responding to my little question last chapter! It seemed none of you were Spanish though XD So I found someone through looking for Spanish betas. **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: You really just want me to rub salt into my own wounds don't you? Of course I don't own anything but the plot of this! Not even the characters… T^T**

 **Earth~**

"Heartfilia! Ready to run?" Aomine asked, coming running towards her, and away from the big, approaching group.

She smiled inwardly at his enthusiasm while maintaining a smirk outwardly. "Big question is if you are, Daisuki-chan." She teased him.

The boy grinned widely at her, determination lighting up his dark, blue eyes. "I won't lose to you this time!" He promised her. Honestly, him simply being able to keep up with her was a victory in itself.

She was used to the extreme running, it was the norm, something she encountered at almost every mission. If they weren't running from crazed bandits, it was the Rune Knights keeping watch over the village they had just accidentally destroyed.

You guess which occurrence was most common.

"I'd like to see you try." She kept teasing him. There simply wasn't anything more entertaining than teasing and bickering with that boy. According to her anyway.

The blue haired guy crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her triumphantly. "Now I know what to expect and how to beat it. It'll be easy!" He told her.

Her smirk widened amusedly at his words. "And what makes you think I'm not holding anything back, again?" She asked him, her smile as triumphant as his had been a moment ago.

Now though, it seemed as if all color had drained from his face at the thought that she wasn't even giving it everything she got.

"Uh, excuse me." Someone said, breaking the momentary pause between the two of them and drawing their attention away from each other. "Can I join the two of you today?" Kise asked them, much to their surprise. Which meant no words formed in their heads, alas they remained silent a moment too long. The blonde quickly shook his head and raised his hands almost apologetically. "It's all right if I can't!" He reassured them quickly.

Lucy smiled brightly and shook her head. "No, it's not that, I was just shocked is all." She quickly told him. "Of course you can join." She said with Aomine nodding enthusiastically next to her.

"You all are insane." Haizaki muttered as he walked past them.

"You could always join us too, Haizaki." Aomine offered with a grin.

The gray-haired teen looked back at him as if he was stupid. "No thank you, I don't have a death wish, unlike you idiots." He grunted.

Lucy sighed lightly. "Well, at least he showed up on time." She said. That was always something… Right?

The two boys nodded mutely as Sanada and Kozo appeared at the entrance. "What are you all waiting around for?" Sanada ordered with a blow in his whistle. "Being on the 1st string isn't for weak girls!" He said and set everyone into motion.

The only girl participating in the run grabbed the wrists of the two boys as she pulled them into her pace - double the pace of the others. "Come on you two, let me see how you do." She said and released them, feeling they had adjusted to her speed.

"I'll show you!" Aomine said as he ran, his voice jumping a little with every step he took in the sand.

She looked back at him with a challengingly raised brow. "If you have breath enough to could chit-chat like that, you're not running fast enough." She teased him. That was what Gajeel had told her in the beginning, when she wanted to strike up a conversation. Over time, he softened up - and she'd gotten so in shape she could actually maintain a somewhat decent conversation throughout the entire run.

And just as it did her, it shut Aomine up instantly. You could almost hear his teeth clattering together with the force of it. Kise snickered at him amusedly.

The blonde girl shook her head, giggling at his response, which was almost eerily similar to her own. "That was of course a joke." She reassured them. She grinned when she heard the boy breathe the breath he'd apparently held in out deeply and looked back at the two of them from the corner of her eye. "It would get so messy and annoying if you died after all." She said.

This made Aomine's relieved expression change into an annoyed one. "Oi… Heartfilia! Ya sayin'… I wouldn't be able to.. Keep up with a… Faster pace?!" He asked her, panting slightly already.

The blonde guy looked at him with a raised brow. "You're saying that… But you're already.. Breathless." He commented, to which Lucy nodded in agreement.

Aomine came as close to pouting, without actually doing it, as was humanly possible. "I thought… At least you.. Would be on my side… Blondie." He half whined.

Lucy laughed and pated the blue-haired teen's head. "Aww, is poor, little Daisuki-chan sad now?" She asked with the best childish voice she could muster. She was a grown, mature woman, so it was difficult after all.

The boy threw his fist after her, but the mix of his already building exhaustion and her training, avoiding it was like stealing candy from a child. Beyond easy. _He_ might as well have been a child. A younger one than he already was, anyway.

She grinned at him. "You better work on that punch, Daisuki-chan." She teased him. Well, she probably hadn't been much different when she was his age. Probably even worse in all likelihood.

Aomine growled a little at her, but seemed to have realized it was stupid to waste his breath on something as idiotic as talking, so other than that, he remained silent as they simply just ran, all three of them. Soon, they had already passed all the others once, and were about to catch up to them again, at the beginning of their second round.

The breathing of the other two came out in short bursts, their exhaustion clear to everyone - especially because Aomine at one point almost screamed loudly to announce just that. Still though, despite their heavy breathing, they were keeping up with her.

She saw Kise's step falter a little, not much, but just a little, and she sped down a little, so that she would end up behind the two of them. She gently placed a hand on each of their backs. "Come on, just the last fourth." She said, as she began lightly pushing them both. They were approaching the last fourth, after all, the toughest part of them all.

The blue haired boy grunted. "But that's… The tough.. Est… Part…" He barely managed to say through his seemingly forceful breaths.

Lucy smiled as they reached the tourist-section of the beach. "Oh, don't sweat the details, Daisuki-chan." She said and turned the two around. "All right, the last sprint back. Ready, boys?" She asked them.

"SPRINT?!" Kise shouted in breathless surprise.

Aomine looked challengingly at her. "Why don't… You show… Us… Your all?" He suggested.

Lucy tapped her chin. "All right." She said. "As long as you don't cheat and take it easy." She said and sent them both a pointed look. "If you're not back five minutes after the others, it means another round of 100% sprint." She told them, getting a nod from each as all three sped up exponentially from the light jog - as it was to her - they'd been doing before.

However, within just a few steps, Lucy was already ahead of the two. This space only increased as she forced herself to go even faster, spurring her short legs to move swifter back and forth over the sand. She felt the familiar strain in her legs as she moved over the uneven and unforgiving terrain.

It probably had the opposite effect on her than what you would expect. Rather than making her gear down, it made her propel forward even faster. It'd been quite some time since she'd just given this sprint all it could get. Usually she would just keep up with Gajeel - mainly to show off her superior speed by never truly letting him catch up - running at his pace, which was slower than hers.

Feeling the speed in her veins again was as blissful as it could get.

She barely even registered the blurs which were the team as she ran past them all at full speed. That was just about halfway back at that last half round.

The blonde flash - soon to be her new nickname, hopefully also soon to be forgotten - reached the two adult men and the young girl waiting for her and everyone else at the end. Sanada and Momoi watched her quick approach with eyes as wide as saucers. If she had to guess, she'd say they were maybe surprised with her speed, perhaps?

Meanwhile Kozo had more or less expected it, as he had seen her run quite fast - of course not as fast as she currently was - once before, while she was going through the program at night, apparently. Which was slightly creepy.

He had already gotten a bottle prepared for her for when she arrived. Which she did a second later, when she stomped her heels into the ground, making a wave of sand spray up from the force of it. When she stood almost still, he threw it to her. "Here, you deserve it after that spectacular run." He said with a smile, while the other two were still gaping.

The blonde caught the bottle with ease and downed about half of its contents before speaking. "Thanks." She panted , still out of breath.

She looked back over her shoulder to see where everyone was. All of them seemed like small dots in the distance.

 **Later~**

"Heartfilia! Wanna- Ow, Tetsu! What the heck?" Aomine exclaimed as he was hit in the back of his head by a basketball thrown by the smaller boy.

Kuroko decided to nonchalantly ignore his friend as he looked at the blonde. "When he was about to ask was whether you wanted to join the two of us for some extra training." He corrected his friend. One of his longer speeches, it seemed.

Lucy - having a hard time not giggling at the one-sided exchange between the two of them - furrowed her eyebrows lightly. "Sure, but didn't the two of you just take a bath?" She asked them. Actually, she'd been planning on doing the very same thing. Well, before this.

The taller of the two shrugged carelessly. "So?" He asked bluntly. "We're going to be training again later anyway." He reasoned.

"Well, that's true." She couldn't deny that. They did training after breakfast and then again after lunch with only a pair of hours at max between them.

Yet, with all that practice, it seemed these two still couldn't seem to get quite enough of the game, wanting to practice even during the short break they had.

She pushed up from the seat and ran out on the court with the other two. "So which game do we play?" She asked. Usually when it was all three of them - which it almost always was - the practice was done through games.

Their favorite was 'Partners'. Here, one team was two and the other one, at least to start out with. The default teams were Lucy and Kuroko against Aomine. Lucy and Aomine had to be on different teams, as the game revolved around scoring goals. The one of the two who scored kept or got Kuroko on their team, until the other scored.

That way, not only did Aomine and Lucy practice their shots, Kuroko practiced his passes, steals and assists in scoring. As well as playing with a partner. The other two also learned how to tackle being ganged up on.

So, yes, all around actually a nice game, which was both fun and good for practice at the same time.

Aomine sighed almost melodramatically. "Well, I _would_ suggest 'Partners', but I'd feel sorry for you every time you fail to get Tetsu." He told her.

"I think you're getting it backwards here." She said and crossed her arms, grinning at him with a glint in her eyes. " _You_ would be the one _I_ 'd feel sorry for." She shot back. To which Kuroko nodded, much to the other boy's disdain and her glee. "But, if 'Patners' is too difficult for you, then what do you suggest?" She asked.

The dark blue haired teen was about to growl something at her, when the sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears. "You seem like you're short a person." A certain blonde guy commented.

"We are." Kuroko immediately confirmed before either Lucy or Aomine could do anything to stop him.

Kise lit up into a bright smile. "Then let me help you with that!" He said excitedly.

Aomine and Lucy both nodded and grinned/smiled at him. "Yeah! Now we can play two on two!" The guy of the two of them said.

Lucy smiled for a slightly different reason though. To her, it just made it more clear that Kise actually wanted to play this. Since making the decision, he had been participating in training where he could, which basically just meant he probably aimed to be on the 1st string with everyone. High ambitions, but probably ones he could reach one way or another. She believed he could with all that talent and potential just waiting to be revealed in him.

"The Blonde Flashes against the Blue Streaks." Kuroko suddenly said, confusing the other three for a second, before figuring it out. It was actually blatantly obvious. The teams were based on hair colors.

"Of all names… Kuro-kun~" She whined childishly, already hating that new nickname of hers.

 **Later~**

Today the ones cooking for dinner were Lucy, Kuroko and Akashi. What they were making? The curry which failed yesterday. Luckily there were still quite a lot of leftovers waiting to be used as well as a fridge full of ingredients.

There was no doubt they could make something out of all of this.

She pushed her sleeves up and looked determinedly at everything in front of her." All right. Let's make an awesome dinner out of this!" She said with eager determination.

However it seemed she was the only one with the conviction that it would definitely work out just fine. Akashi looked at her with slightly furrowed brows. "I would love to, but can any one of us cook in the first place?" He asked, looking to Kuroko, who shook his head, and then at her.

Only to be met with a deadpan expression. "Of course." The blonde simply said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The redhead looked weirdly at her. "I thought you were supposed to have grown up with maids and cooks." He said, implicitly asking why in the world and how she had learned to cook.

Lucy smiled at the question. "Second time I'm asked that on this trip." Of course people from her own world had asked her why countless times as well. "Rather than letting the cooks do all the work, I wanted to help when I was little." She said as she pulled a rice-cooker up. "Of course I was more of a burden than a help in the beginning, but over time I learned to be of help, they were always really nice though." She retold the memories floating around in her mind. "My father didn't like it, but we managed to keep it a secret from him." She said with a soft smile on her lips. Her experience with cooking first came after she ran away from home, but it was sort of hard to explain to these two.

Akashi looked at her with a studying gaze for a moment before nodding, having accepted her explanation. "All right. Then we will put our faith in you." He said as he also rolled his sleeves up.

Kuroko nodded next to him. "Yes, show us what to do." He said.

She smiled widely at them. "Okay!" She nodded enthusiastically. "First off." She said and separated the vegetables used for the salad from the rest. "Kuro-kun, yesterday you saw how not to make salad." She said, to which Akashi snorted lowly. "Just cut it out in the size, which would be most comfortable for you to eat." She explained.

The little boy nodded and grabbed the biggest knife in sight, taking the lettuce and slowly separating each leaf from it. Which was most definitely the slow way to go about doing it.

"Ah, do it like this, Kuro-kun." She said as she grabbed a knife herself and another lettuce, cutting off the hard knob at the bottom, she placed it in front of her again. "It's just slightly faster." She reasoned before angling the knife vertically over the round vegetable.

With skill only acquired through experience - and lots of it too - she cut the ball of leaves quickly and expertly first vertically, then horizontally.

"Aaand, just like that." She said, drawing 'and' out, done with the lettuce. When she looked up, she saw two 'gaping' expressions - as 'gaping' as it got with those two. "What?" She asked them confusedly, her gaze switching from one to the other alternately.

"Amazing…" Kuroko muttered as he stared at the perfectly cut lettuce next to his.

She dropped getting an answer as she had figured out what had them looking at her like that. "All right. Now you do that with that one and the next - we will need all three for all these people." She said. This amount of people was more or less equivalent to Natsu, so it was quite easy for her to measure how much food they needed.

The smallest boy nodded and got to work silently. She turned to Akashi, looked at him for a moment, figuring out what he should do, and then turned to the rice-cooker, plugging it in. "You haven't used a rice-cooker before, have you, Sei-kun?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "No, there has been no reason for me to do so." He said and then waited for her directions.

She smiled. "About time, then." She said and grabbed the first bag of rice. "Obviously the rice-cooker cooks rice." She said and decided it was big enough to could make the rice for them all at once. "First you open the lid of course." She said and opened it by simply pulling it up. "Then you add the right amount of water, which is a full tank this time around, and then the rice - which is both packs today." She explained and looked at him with a smile. "Why don't you do it?" She suggested, making space for him at the machine.

He looked at her shortly, as if asking I she really thought that was a good idea, before stepping forward. He looked inside the object, which he had never seen before. The cook in their household didn't use this, he knew, he did it all by himself right from scratch. Inside it, the container was made of aluminum.

That, he understood at the very least. It had two purposes and/or reasons for being there.  
One, because the water shouldn't get to the wires and electricity inside.  
Two, because aluminum didn't rust and could keep the rice warm for longer than mere plastic could.

He looked up at the blonde silently waiting for guidance. But then caught himself in doing it and glared at the object in front of him. He hated it, when there was something he couldn't do.

Thinking back at the little he knew about cooking, he came to a conclusion. He just needed to verify it. "It would be smartest to start with putting the rice in, would it not?" He asked for confirmation.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, exactly!" She said with a bright smile. "That way, if you know how much rice you want - which you do - it's easier to proportionate how much water you need." She explained.

He gave her a nod as a show of his comprehension before grabbing the first rice-bag and putting its contents into the rice-cooker and afterwards the other one. Luckily the wire leading to the plug was long enough to could get it under the closest tap and fill it with water.

"There needs to be enough water to cover all the rice." She explained. "Preferably also a little above." She added.

Once again, he only gave her a nod as he did as instructed, filling it with water till a little above the rice. With that, he simply pressed the 'start' button and it started its work.

She nodded. "Now it will cook the rice all by itself. Meanwhile we can do everything else." She said.

However before they could begin on the actual curry, they were interrupted. "Lucy." The other, smaller boy present called. "We need all the cucumbers, right?" He asked her.

She looked up and towards him, seeing he'd already cut the three, green vegetables. "Well, that was quick." She mumbled to herself. It seemed he just needed to get started with cutting the vegetables, and then everything went smoothly. "Yeah, we need to have everything cut out. Don't worry about making too much, we'll just use it later." She said, to which she earned a single nod as the boy once again directed all his attention to all he was doing.

Akashi somewhat hesitantly left the self-supporting machine by itself and followed the blonde to the cooktops, where she had already pulled out a deep pan. He simply followed her with his gaze as she seemed to pull out random things. Minced meat, carrots, some kind of red beans, canned tomato puree and many different spices.

She turned to him with a peeler and a handful of carrots. "Would you mind peeling these and then cut them in thin slices with the grater?" She asked him and gestured towards the pyramid-like, chrome kitchen tool.

He nodded and took the things handed to him as he began on the duty he had been given.

At the same time, Lucy prepared the pan for the meat, which would need to get a little browned before the addition of the tomato puree. While the pan warmed up, she opened the packages containing the meat and dropped it onto the now warm pan, one package after another, after which she with quick and deft hands began pushing it a little around and splitting the bigger groups apart.

When it was all split up, she left it by itself as she began opening the cans with tomato. With swift swipes of her wrist were all of them opened and she turned the meat over as far as possible so everything else also could get browned.

Here, she took the chance to look back to Kuroko, who seemed to be doing just fine. Although the space had had to cut on was getting increasingly small, as the already cut vegetables had nowhere else to go but the board.

She smiled and went to him, pushing a big ceramic bowl towards him. "Just put all you have already cut in here." She told him, and watched as he finished a tomato. It seemed he already knew before-hand to clean the vegetables, she didn't even have to mention it to him.

He looked at the ceramic bowl, nodded and began moving the vegetables from the board to the bowl. He glanced up at her. "Thank you." He said as he continued to work.

The blonde smiled in response and looked back at the meat. Seeing it was doing fine, she turned to the redhead struggling with the grater. She approached him lightly and watched as he ran the carrot over the chrome object. And then figured out why he was struggling.

She gently placed her hand over his, getting a tighter grip on the carrot. "To do this, you need to use a little more force than you'd probably expect." She said and began doing the up and downwards motion over it as they cut more or less perfect slices. "Just like that." Slicing a few more slices, she finally let go of his hand. "Halfway through them, I suggest you change hands, it can get a little tiring after some time." She explained. And it didn't matter how often you did it either, you still got tired arms doing it.

With that, she returned to her pan. Turning the meat around, she found it was nice and ready for the next step, as she had expected it would be.

She emptied the cans of tomato puree into the pan and mixed the two contents together, enjoying the familiar sizzling sound. She turned down the power of the cooktop a few notches. Soon after, when it was all mixed together, she added a single can with the dark red beans. All there was needed now was the carrots.

"Lucy, the carrots are done now." Akashi announced as he came over with the many orange slices on a plate.

She lit up into a wide grin at the perfect timing. "Perfect, Sei-chan!" She said and motioned to the pan. "Just put them all in here and mix it together." She said, figuring she should do it rather than she should.

He did as he was told, pushing the carrots down and off the plate, into the mix and began blending it together. As he did that, Lucy mixed in salt, pepper, a bit of chili - though not much - as well as a few other spices.

Pulling out a drawer, she grabbed a spoon and took a test-taste. It was all good and as it should be. She looked at the other two present and grabbed two other spoons. "Well, I can't be the only one getting an early taste, can I?" She asked and handed both of them a spoon. Kuroko had also silently finished the salad just then.

"I guess not." Akashi agreed as he and the sky-blue haired boy took the spoons with masked gratefulness and scooped up a little of the curry, plopping it into their mouths.

With curious anticipation, she waited to hear what they thought of it, seeing as neither of them were very expressive. Or so she'd thought.

Although only slightly, the redhead's eyes widened and he looked from the pan to her. "This is amazing, Lucy." He told her. Kuroko just nodded as the only sign of agreement.

She smiled at the both of them. "I'm glad to hear it!" She said. Suddenly a 'pling' was heard from the other side of the room. "Oh! The rice!"

 **Ending it of here~**

 **I actually considered adding a part where she was cleaning up with Kozo, and he'd be asking her how she was doing, being away from Earthland and so on and so forth. Buuuuut she had a moment of thinking of this stuff last chapter, can't have it this one too, so I ended it off a little early ^-^**

 **But, I know some of you have been really wanting to see something with Akashi, and here it is! Hope you liked it! Or is it not enough? Do you need more Akashi? Please tell~  
I realized during this cooking-thing that neither Akashi nor Kuroko are the very talkative types, so I imagine it was a sort of silent kitchen, although I made it seem it wasn't. Or tried to anyway XD**

 **Ah, yes, I should also mention that although this recipe may sound plausible, I really just typed in random things I thought would fit together well, maybe. Dunno if it's even a curry…. You can try it, I guess, but I wouldn't know if it would actually taste good**

 **Anyway, thank you to all who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed! Keep doing what you do and I will too~!**

 **~ Line464d**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 **I didn't even realize, but we reached 250 reviews last chapter! The honors go to Darkerger1 this time! Thank you everyone! This is really a sort of milestone for the story, isn't it? ^-^  
4th day~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope~ Still haven't been able to conquer either one of the stories or their characters :/**

"Huh? You want to join too Niji-kun?" The blonde asked, surprise written with neon lights across her forehead. This, she had definitely not expected.

The black haired boy nodded. "Of course I do." He said with no hesitancy in sight. "I can't very well let a runt and a greenhorn outdo me, can I?" He asked, looking to the blue and blonde haired guys next to her. Despite what he said and how mature he was in comparison, he was only a year older than the two of them..

"Haah?! What's that mean, Cap?" Aomine asked dumbly. It was probably an automatic reflex of his, asking although he knew the answer already.

Lucy reached up and placed her hand over the loud guy's mouth. "That's the duty of a captain, right?" She asked rhetorically. "But of course you can join!" She reassured him.

"Pfft, let's see if he can keep up first." Aomine grunted.

Kise glanced at the captain of the 1st string. "I don't think you have to worry about him, Aomine-cchi." He said. That suffix, -cchi, was something he only added to the people he respected. Which he apparently did herself, Aomine - obviously - and Kuroko, after the little bit of extra training for the boys and her after the run.

Lucy smiled as Aomine grumbled at the blonde's words. "Yup." She agreed. "Well, are you all ready?" She asked them, seeing the two coaches step out.

All three nodded and everyone set into motion a second before the whistle sounded.

 **Later~**

"Going to do it today?" She asked Kozo, as she was standing next to him, watching the boys taking a bottle of water each before the approaching break.

The elder man nodded. "Yes, I was planning to, here during the next round of practice." He confirmed. He turned to look at her. "That should serve the best opportunity." He explained.

She nodded. "Yeah." She simply said, glancing to her fellow blonde , whose leg he couldn't keep in check, as it hammered up and down in withheld energy. "I think he's about ready to blow off some steam as well." She giggled.

Kozo followed her gaze and smiled heartedly. "It would seem so." He agreed.

"How is this evaluation going to proceed?" She asked him curiously. She had actually really been wondering how he had in mind to do this evaluation of Kise.

"It already started when he entered the bus." He told her. "Firstly I had to find out whether his and the personalities of the team's clashed." He said and held a dramatic pause. "They don't, he fits in very well with them all." He explained. "Next, I had to figure out where his skill-level was. For the most part, it would seem he will do just fine. Besides with that unique skill of his, he will be able to brush up on his few lacks in no time." He added. "And lastly, I have to see how well he plays _with_ the team." He said.

Lucy nodded, taking a moment to process everything. "So you aim to get him on the 1st string, don't you?" She finally asked him. All he said pointed in that direction. Why else would whether he could play well or fit in with everyone matter?

He chuckled. "This is indeed right, child." He confirmed. "He would be a great addition to the team, I believe." He said.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I think so too." She agreed. Kise would be an extremely versatile player, just like Haizaki, with his ability to copy everything he sees, even if it is just once. He could probably be and play any and all positions. Be the offensive ace, like Aomine, or the defensive backup, like Murasakibara. And everything in between.

Although, for some reason, it seemed there were some things he couldn't copy. Maybe he just had to build up his own skill-level before going to that step.

"So you want to confirm whether he can keep up and play with everyone after the break?" She asked, although already knowing the answer to that. And as she did, she didn't give him a chance to answer before continuing on. "And, to do that, he'd have to join the entire practice." She looked up at him. "Right?" She asked.

The man smiled his kind, grandfatherly smile. "Yes, that was the idea." He continued for her, before turning to where Nijimura and Sanada seemed to be discussing something important. "Sanada, Nijimura, can I bother you for a moment?" He asked politely, but so that there was no doubt he was not to be crossed.

The two also felt this and immediately ceased their conversation. "Yes, what is it?" Sanada asked the Head Coach, his gaze flickering to Lucy for a moment, before returning to the one he was addressing.

"I want to have Kise join the practice here after the break." He told the two of them. "The entire training, of course." He added. Sanada gave a curt nod, accepting his superior's orders without knowing why.

Nijimura, smart as he was had already figured out what it was all about. "This is about the evaluation of Kise, isn't it?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly it!" She confirmed for him. "We're going to see whether he can be a part of the 1st string with all of you!" She told him.

Kozo nodded. "Yes. I want to see how well he plays with the team, which is why this time, training will consist mainly of mini matches." He told the other coach.

Said other coach gave him another nod. "Of course, I will see to it that this happens." He promised him.

"Thank you, Sanada." He replied as the captain and the coach returned to their conversation, pulling a little away from the other two.

"Hmm…" Lucy muttered. "I wonder if we should tell Kise about this." She wondered out loud. He'd probably want to know, so that he knew to do his very, very best.

Kozo shook his head. "No, we mustn't." He declined. "I do not wish to see him at his best, rather I do at his regular level." He told her. "Otherwise I will only know how he plays with everyone at his best, not on a regular basis."

"Oh, of course." She said and looked towards the entrance. Now all there was to do, was to wait for practice to begin again, and then they could get him placed on the right string.

 **Later~**

"Guys! Guys!" Kise yelled, running towards all of them. He had just been talking with Kozo personally, where the old man told him which string he would be assigned to. Judging from his reaction, Lucy already had an idea which one it was.

Aomine whipped around and looked at him hopefully. "What did he say?! Where are you going?! Are you with us?!" He let the questions well out of him like a waterfall.

The blonde guy grinned widely from ear to ear. "I'm on the 1st string!" He cheered loudly. "I'm on the 1st string with everyone!" He repeated ecstatically.

His bright smile reflected on everyone's faces as well - well, in various degrees, that is. "YOSH! That's how it's done, Blondie!" Aomine grinned, raising his high five. "Well done!"

Kise met the high five with his own hand, making the sound of their bare skin slapping together echo in the area, and the two of them begin to whine not very manly at the stinging pain coming for the 'perfect' high five. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" The blonde whimpered.

Lucy shook her head at the two and pushed Aomine away, so he stumbled a little, before giving her fellow blonde a quick hug. "Congratulations with it." She said as she released him from her embrace. "We'll beat those two blue heads sometime soon." She said with a wink. After all, a loss like that couldn't just be left alone and unrevenged.

He nodded. "For sure! We'll kick their asses!" He agreed excitedly.

As she backed a little away, Nijimura approached him with Akashi following close behind. "Well, as the captain of this team, I should probably welcome you properly to the team." He said and clasped the blonde's hand roughly. Not as roughly as Aomine and the blonde just had, of course, but not soundlessly either. "Welcome to the 1st string, Ryota Kise." He said with an almost serious expression.

Akashi nodded next to the captain. "We look forward to playing with you." He told him.

"Oi, Akashi! What are ya doing acting all high and mighty, sticking like damn glue to the Cap?" He asked in an attempt to sound menacing.

Midorima turned to the blue haired guy and pushed his glasses up. "It is not as you inquire, Aomine." He commented. "Akashi was promoted to Vice Captain earlier today as well." He explained, watching as Aomine sunk into speechlessness.

Lucy's eyes widened at these news and she couldn't contain her excited smile as she looked to the redhead. "Is that true?" She asked both him and the Captain. Both nodded. And Lucy almost jumped in the air, catching the redhead in a hug as well. "Congratulations, Akashi!" She congratulated him. Of course, she had long since expected that would happen.

They all heard a deep chuckle and saw Kozo approaching. "We have two things to celebrate then, I see." He said. "What about you get the rest of the day off and go bathe in the nice, sunny weather?" He suggested.

This sent the group into smiles and cheering, and so sealing the deal. Fortunately, everyone had brought their bathing suits and changing into them took barely any time, and the entire team was soon running into the salty, cool waves.

Momoi gasped when she set foot in the water and threw her arms around herself. Lucy giggled as the girl slowly creeped out in the water one foot at a time. She'd gotten knee-deep when a large wave came and splashed all the way up to her stomach, making a big squeal erupt from her as she quickly ran back.

The blonde shook her head at the pinkette and laughed at her. "Come on, Sat-chan, once you're under it's not cold any longer." She reassured her friend.

This made the other girl shake her head furiously, her arms thrown around herself in an attempt to keep herself warm. Though that probably didn't work as well for her as she wished. "No, I won't!" She declared.

Fortunately - or unfortunately for her - Aomine had been a little behind everyone and was now approaching from behind. He smirked from where he was approaching and held a finger to his lips to anyone who was watching, before setting into a run, the sound of his steps dulled by the sand. "Oh yes you will!" He grinned before grabbing her by the legs and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

After a moment of shock, the pinkette realized what was going on. And then, she began beating the back of the guy carrying her so rudely. "Let me go! Dai-chan!" She screamed at him.

He shook his head and chuckled as he reached the part, where the water was hip-deep for him. "Here we go." He said, drawing the first 'e' in 'here' out as he took the girl and threw her into the water, gaining a scream from the girl before she was completely under the surface of the water.

Not even a second later the now drenched girl shot up from the water like a missile and jumped up on her friend, making him lose his balance and also get submerged in the cold water like she had moments before.

Murasakibara had silently been watching the exchange, and socially awkward as he was, he grabbed little, unprepared Akashi, lifted him all the way up from the water, held him there for a second while he was speechless in surprise and probably also wonder, and then simply dropped him from there.

When Akashi reappeared at the surface again, spluttering in both surprise and because he most likely swallowed some salt water too, but seemingly not angry at the tall, purple haired teen, it was like a sign to everyone else for the throwing of the others to be initiated.

Lucy felt a pair of hands grab her from behind and in a mixture of throwing and pushing got her under the water too, though not without a whine coming from the blonde. She felt the could water rush over her in a flash, before her body somewhat adapted to it.

At that point, she was already above water though and was looking back at the one who had pushed her. "Niji-kun!" She exclaimed, though with a big smile as she prepared to take him down as well.

He only managed to shrug before he was pushed under too though. The rough and hard push revealed who it was. "Payback for doing what I was about to." Haizaki told the Captain as he came above the water once again. Meanwhile he strolled towards the blonde casually, as if he hadn't just pushed his captain quite roughly.

It seemed like he was about to throw his arm around her shoulders and say something, but before he reached that point, he was returned just as forceful a push as he had delivered a moment ago.

When Lucy looked back at her 'savior' she saw it had probably been more of a kick than it had a push. Her savior grinned at her widely, not caring the least about the raging gray haired teen he had just kicked/pushed. "We blondes better stick up for one another, right Lu-cchi?" Kise said with a wink.

She laughed and nodded. "Of course we do, Kise." She said and gave Nijimura, who had been at the ready to take Haizaki down, a reassuring smile to say he didn't need to worry. Not that he had in the first place, she was quite capable of taking care of herself against someone like him.

"This is ridiculously childish." They heard Midorima comment from the sidelines as he watched everyone throw around with each other and playing around. Like Kuroko who had his mouth under and his nose over the water as he blew bubbles right in front of him. It looked hilarious.

The two blondes exchanged gazes and nodded, as they approached Midorima. Lucy underwater and Kise from behind. As the girl took a hold of the green haired boy's legs and began pulling, Kise did the same, and their victim began falling backwards with a yelp of surprise.

Both blondes' stomachs were cramping up with how much they laughed at the flabbergasted teen, who simply couldn't comprehend that they would do something like that to him. And for once, he corrected his glasses for a reason. "You two." He said slowly but firmly, which only made them laugh even harder, for no apparent reason either.

They were only stopped from the onslaught when they were hit by a big splash of water, forcing the both of them to swallow half of it.

Lucy half heartedly glared at the culprit. "Daisuki-chan, that was rude!" She reprimanded him. And lightly glared at him when he shook his head like a dog, making any water sitting in it fly out in all directions.

The blue haired teen grinned. "Maybe, but it's fun." He said with his wide grin, only to be returned with a wave not unlike his own right back in his face.

Kise, who had been the one to send the wave at the other boy, looked at him with a glint in his eyes. "I think we need a rematch for yesterday." He suggested, to which Lucy nodded. "What do you say, Aomine-cchi?" He asked.

Aomine smirked. "Ready to get your ass beat again? Has to be a habit of yours." He said and turned around to look for Kuroko, who was to be his assistant. "Tetsu, c'mere! We're gonna beat the blondies' asses!" He called.

A second later, Kuroko appeared beside Aomine, appearing suddenly from underwater. "What do we do?" He asked.

Not minding the slight strangeness of his approach, Lucy smiled at him. "Water fight!" She said and threw a splash of water at the little boy.

Dragging his arm over the water, half of it underwater, Aomine created a big wave which hit the both of them as Kuroko recovered from the hit he had suffered just moments before. "You have to do better than that to beat us, blondies." Aomine grinned widely. Only to receive a very well-aimed spout of water, some of it running into his mouth. "Oi, that's rude, I was speaking!" He said, glaring at the blonde guy.

Kise shrugged. "Maybe, but it was fun." He said and smirked at the blue haired guy.

Aomine narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay, now it's on!" He told them.

 **Later~**

Several hours later, they had finally gotten too exhausted to play any longer, and went to the baths. They had been having a lot of fun though.

The water fight she'd been playing with the three guys had escalated quite quickly after initiation, soon enough the entire team was doing a free-for-all with water flying in the air everywhere.

Of course, there were also competitions to see who could swim the fastest, with the others placing free bets on the one of the two they thought was fastest.

Before that though, that had been what they ended off with, they had brought one of the basketballs out in the water and played around with it. It was insanely difficult to dive with, it was like gravity worked reversely with that thing - it wanted nothing more than staying above the surface.

Either way, after that they had split up and went to their respective baths, so they could get all the sand and salt water out of their hair, for example. Presently, that was the biggest struggle the blonde was facing.

"Argh! This damn sand!" She said as she violently roughed her hair and the base of her scalp with her nails, trying to force the sand out and away from her head and hair. She loved beaches, but she really hated sand. Especially when it was stuck at the base of your hair, your scalp.

Momoi smiled. "I know how you feel." She said resignedly as she stood like Lucy, in the middle of the warm water with their heads upside down, both roughing their hair up like there was no tomorrow. "It's just like it _never_ gets out!" She complained.

Lucy sighed, turned around, and just let herself float on top of the water filling the pool-sized baths, for a moment just letting her scalp get a moment of rest. "God, I hope the boys are having as much trouble." She said as she just let herself float on top of the water.

Momoi laughed as she whipped her head and hair back, taking a short break as well. "Doubt it, almost everything which has to do with hair is easier for boys." She said.

The blonde hummed. "Well, I doubt it's much different for Murasakibara than it is for us." She said. Just like it would be for Gajeel or Freed. Not that she'd ever get to see either of them bathing like she had with everyone here moments before. Both were too reserved, though in each of their ways.

A moment of silence remained between them as Lucy swam over and sat down next to the pinkette, slowly and more gently restarting the earlier quest. Meanwhile said pinkette took a slightly different approach, running her nails through the base of her hair, picking up small grains of sand through doing that.

Suddenly, the pinkette's hand dropped into the water. "That reminds me of something Aomine said a few days ago, before this trip." She muttered, making the blonde sit up straight and turn to her curiously. "He was saying something like basketball having turned too easy… Or something like that." She said slowly, as if she had just been speaking her thoughts out loud. Following that, she whipped her head up and looked at the blonde apologetically. "I'm sorry, it's probably nothing though." She reassured the blonde.

"Yeah…" She muttered, though that was not what she was thinking. Her mind was spinning around those words of Momoi's. If that was really true, if Aomine was beginning to feel basketball was getting easier… What would happen? Would he do like Kise or something else?

Well, she couldn't make assumptions based on something a second party said, she'd have to get it from the first, and then, she could draw conclusions.

"Sanada-san and Kozo are making dinner tonight… Right?" The pinkette asked, as if a lightbulb had turned on in her head, one with a big, fat warning sign on it.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about that. "I don't think so." She said. Yes, they said they all had the day off, but she doubted they meant that too. "Why do you ask?" She asked.

Momoi quickly got to her feet and up from the water, throwing a towel around herself, covering the most important parts. "It's my turn to cook today!" She quickly said as she exited the room, leaving the blonde to laugh at the pinkette's situation by herself.

 **Yes, yes, I know. Short chapter. You may kill me later :3**

 **Anywho, despite its shortness, I hope you liked it! I'm sorry if it came off a little awkward at the beginning, buuut I softened up when I reached the bathing part. Really been looking forward to writing that out.**

 **Also, Kise was finally accepted into the team! He's now a 1** **st** **string member with everyone ^-^**

 **So, thank you to you all! You've read, maybe followed, favorited and reviewed, but no matter what you do, I appreciate it all!**

 **~Line464d**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 **I kinda had a rough week, so I just finished this chapter here, before sending it out, so it hasn't been proofread. I'll maybe do it one of these following days and reupload it, but you won't notice it. So… Yeah**

 **All right, 5th day~  
Sorry for the lack of Akashi last chapter, though I soooooorta promised it. Ish.  
Though, on the bright side, we reached 160 followers! Well done, guys!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope~ Not yet, not yet. Also, if I did actually own either, imagine how slow a buildup it'd be. **

**Earth~**

"Heartfilia!" She heard Aomine yell out on the hall as well as his footsteps approaching her and Momoi's room. "Heartfilia!" He yelled once again as he burst through the door. "MidorimAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed when he saw the two girls were standing in no more than their underwear.

Lucy laughed. "You really have the best of timing, Daisuki-chan." She laughed amusedly. It was beyond hilarious to her how he freaked out more than she did over the situation of her - and this time also Momoi - standing with only a little clothes. She really didn't care, nudity and bare skin wasn't much of a topic at Fairy Tail thanks to Gray and Cana, and so she had adapted to her guild's opinion on that.

Momoi, on the other hand, had a bigger sense of decency, even though she had been friends with him since they were very small, and immediately grabbed one of her t-shirts, using it to cover her front as she glared at her friend, who in a panic had turned around and now faced the wall. "Daiki Aomine! When will you learn not to break in at a girl's room?" She asked him strictly and with a slightly motherly tone.

Aomine glanced back at her, but realizing nothing had change, and that neither of them had put on more clothes, he quickly faced the safe wall again. "I'm sorry, Satsuki." He apologized and let his shoulder sag, which only made him look like a sad puppy with its tail between its legs. "But please, put some clothes on!" He pleaded with them.

Lucy snickered and considered teasing the boy just a little more with his fear of a woman's bare skin, but decided against it and put on a loose, cropped top and a pair of shorts, whatever was lying at the top of the bunch.

She turned around to the blue haired boy and made sure Momoi was all clothed. "All right, Aomine, it's safe to look now." She reassured him with a smile.

After having glanced back at them to make sure the blonde really wasn't lying to him, he turned around fully and turned his back to his precious wall. "As I was saying." He started off, his mouth lighting up into a wide grin again. "Midorima and Akashi wants to join the run today!" He said with ecstasy clear in his voice and in the way he was practically jumping where he stood.

Momoi looked weirdly at him. "Really?" She asked incredulously.

Meanwhile, the other girl was getting just as ecstatic about it as he was. "Really?" She asked in a completely other tone of voice than the pinkette had.

Aomine nodded. "Yes!" He confirmed. "When Akashi said he wanted to join, Midorima also did soon after!" He explained.

"Well, if everyone are so eager to run, who am I to hold them back?" She asked rhetorically. "There's no time to waste, then, let's go Daisuki-chan!" She said and was already well on her way out of the room, the boy right at her heels.

If it continued like this, the entire team would be running at her pace before the end of this trip.

 **Later~**

"Is training this tough every day?" Kise moaned as he plopped down in the middle of the court right after Sanada had announced the first part of the day's training was done.

"Yes, it is." Kuroko said, already down on the ground and looking like he was about to let everyone know what he had for breakfast.

Nijimura looked down at the two then looked up at the sun. "Well, half of it is because of the sun." He commented. "The warm, humid weather only makes it worse." He explained.

Lucy stood up from where she had been sitting on the sand. "Then why don't we get something to cool us down?" She asked them all.

Momoi also got up and nodded with a bright beam. "Yeah! There has to be a shop down in that tourist area!" She said.

Lucy looked around at the team, seeing their positively positive expressions, she looked to Nijimura for confirmation - he was the Captain of the team, after all - and getting a nod, her own smile only widened. "All right! Let's go then." She said and gestured for all of them to go down the long beach till where the tourists would be.

Finding the air to be uncomfortably hot, she decided to walk by the edge of the water, letting the waves drag across her feet every time they reached far enough, washing off any sand which clung to her.

"I've been meaning to ask…" She heard someone say next to her, and looked to see it was the newly hatched Vice Captain of the 1st string. "Where did you learn to run like you do?" He asked her, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Lucy smiled and looked down at her feet again. "Well, my friends and I did some… More extreme workout than most." She said, wondering how to explain it. Everything seemed to be more extreme in Earthland.

He looked at her with a confused frown. "Extreme workout?" He repeated. "What do you mean with this?" He asked her.

"Uhm… Well." She struggled with words. "I guess you could say that it's just more focused on something... Well not so much techniques and being able to dribble a ball from one end of a court to the other at full speed without losing it. Nothing technical like that." She said.

She wasn't even sure if what she was trying to say was true, combat was also about techniques and doing the correct things to deliver the most pain. That was sort of technical in its own way, right?

Akashi only seemed more confused, but nodded slowly. "I... See." He said with a low voice. Lucy could almost hear how the gears were grinding in his mind as he tried to understand what she had told him. "So whereas our training has the goal of getting better at basketball, yours has another goal?" He asked, to which he got a nod and a smile. "What was this goal, if I may ask?" He asked.

"The goal?" He nodded. "Right, the goal was... Uh.. It was.. to get a better physique, I guess." She said, her voice lowering with every word as she herself heard how lame it was.

"If you can't lie properly, you should just tell him the truth, Lucy." Nijimura commented, having apparently listened in on their conversation.

The blonde looked at the taller boy with shocked, wide eyes. How could he even propose that? "B.. But, Niji-" She couldn't even finish her sentence at the pure shock she was going through.

How in the world did he expect her to just outright explain she was from another world entirely and that when she slept, she was teleported to this one? That it all had something to do with this team. That she had magic. Why in the whole, wide world would they ever belive her if she just spouted that suddenly?

He must have gone crazy.

The black haired boy shook his head at her. "Well, if you're not going to say, then I am." He simply stated and then turned to his Vice Captain. "Back where she comes from, she ran away from her bastard of a father, and found a group of friends who practices advanced martial arts. A mix of street fighting and proper, you could say." He said and glanced at Lucy who was staring at him with a baffled expression, a reassuring look in his eyes. "But as an aristocratic lady, as we all know she is, she was embarrassed about it, for some strange, unreasonable reason." He explained the guy.

Lucy would have crossed her fingers and hoped for the best, if it had been for the fact that she was completely and utterly speechless. The only reason she wasn't standing still yet was because her feet had gone and went on autopilot by themselves.

Her mind was completely blank, that's how surprised she was. Seconds ago, she had been frightened, _terrified_ that he would reveal her secrets and that it would ruin her relationships with everyone here. But now... Now her emotions and thoughts couldn't figure out where to go, she was one big, silent turmoil.

"You... You.." Was all she managed to say to the one who had probably just saved her from embarrassment.

"Yes, yes, I revealed your secret, the world will go under and all that." He overdramatized while waving his hand dismissively. Little out of character for him, but that was to be expected when coming up with such a big, white lie.

Akashi looked from her to Nijimura and then back at her again. "Well, that is absolutely ridiculous." He simply said, looking straight forward in the direction they were going.

The brown, wide eyes were turned to the redhead. "Wha? Ridiculous?" She asked quite stupidly.

He gave her a curt nod as he looked up at her from the corner of his eye. "You escaped your father, because you needed to be in a different environment, correct?" He asked, to which he got a mute nod. "And is that not what you got?" He continued.

She nodded slowly, surprised that even though he didn't actually know much about her relationship to her father, he could still come with such a precise conclusion. "Yeah... I did." She said quietly.

The redhead nodded. "You got exactly what you wanted, so what is there to be embarrassed about?" He asked her, red eyes meeting brown. "No matter what it is, do not worry. I believe I can speak on behalf of the whole team when I say we will accept you no matter who or what you are." He promised her, his eyes leaving hers to look forward again. "Now then, it seems we've arrived." He said as he followed the group, which was going in the direction of the first stall selling ice cream.

Lucy, not quite walking the same pace as the redhead, came to walk a little behind him, staring shocked at his back. Those words really hit home for her. She knew he didn't know exactly what he was saying, when he said what he just did, but she was deeply thankful and impressed. Impressed that such mature words had come out of a 13 year old kid's mouth. Nonetheless, she felt the conviction behind them, he truly believes that that was how it was.

"See?" She heard the familiar voice of the Captain say next to her. "I told you, you should just tell them already." He said with a smile. "Even Akashi thinks so."

Lucy returned his smile gently. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the save back there." She said, then playfully slouched his arm. "But don't scare me so much! I thought you were about to reveal everything then and there. My heart almost stopped!" She said, though she couldn't keep the amused tone out of her voice.

Nijimura laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I anyone's going to be telling them all that, I promise you it'll be yourself." He promised her.

"Slowpokes back there! Come and pick your ice!" Aomine called out to them, and with a laugh, they caught up to the rest of them, picking their ice.

Of course, Murasakibara decided to go for a big I've, being the one on the team with the biggest stomach, only surpassed by Aomine, who decided it was about time he tested how much he could eat. Meanwhile Kuroko only went for a little one, which he split in two and shared with Momoi. It was one of those strange ones with two pins in it, almost like it was supposed to be shared with soneone else.

They all decided that rather than walking and risking that someone drop it into the sand, they'd rather sit at one of the benches. They could just barely fit in at one of the longest one, but it worked out just fine.

As she - and more or less everyone else - had expected, Aomine couldn't even make it halfway through the ice he'd bought, and looked like he was about ready to barf all over the table, when Murasakibara, who had already eaten his own, said he could eat Aomine's too. And did so without so much as a twitch.

After everyone had finished, it was time to get back, if they wanted to make it to practice without having Sanada yelling at them.

As they were getting ready to get back again, Lucy swung her feet around, over the bench seat and into the sand on the other side with a gliding motion. However as she quickly got up and moved to take a step with her right foot, a heavy weight seemed to be on it, pinning it down. As she lost her balance, she felt a flashing sting of pain and toppled forward, landing on her knees with a gasp of surprise and shock.

Haizaki was already at her side, as if he had been there from the start and with a strangely calm tone asked: "Are you all right, Lucy?" It was too calm and too... Well, almost sugary sweet, nonchalant to be natural.

With just barely narrowed eyes, she looked at the gray haired guy. "... Yeah, I'm all right." She slowly replied, before attempting to get up. But as soon as she laid any pressure and weight on her foot, she felt a painfully stinging pain at her ankle, forcing her to her knees. "Ugh.."

"Lucy!" She heard Nijimura call from a slight distance, and soon after his, and others' footsteps approaching, some quicker than others. In an instant, she felt a presence next to her and a reassuring hand on her arm. "What's wrong? Are you all right?" He asked her.

She looked up at him and gave him a little, slight smile. "I'm fine, I think I just twisted my ankle as I got up." She said, her eyes wandering to Haizaki for a split second before they were back with the Captain. "I'm a bit of a clutz sometimes." She laughed lightly as Momoi came to her other side.

She tried to get up again, getting much needed support from Nijimura and Momoi, but still hissed in pain as she tried to stand on her right foot, quickly figuring it'd be for the best if she just jumped on one foot.

Momoi shook her head as the blonde tried to detach herself from the two's support, getting a better grip on her. "You aren't going anywhere without someone for support, Lucy-chan!" The pinkette told her.

"She isn't going anywhere at all with that foot." Nijimura added.

Lucy held back the urge to roll her eyes and tugged a little at her arms which were held captive. "Come on, guys-" she started out, but was cut off before she could finish.

Haizaki stepped forward. "I'll give her a ride back." He offered, a somewhat sly smirk on his mouth and glinting in his eyes.

"Guys, I can walk-" she tried again, but was ignored completely, much to her irritation.

The black haired Captain, who had caught Lucy's glance towards that guy earlier, visibly glared at him. "No, you won't." He simply stated.

Akashi made his presence known with a little clearing of his throat. "I suggest Atsushi carry her, he is in all likelihood the best suited one out of us all." He looked up at the tall guy. "If you do not mind, that is." He added.

Murasakibara shook his head. "I don't." He simply said, looking towards the blonde. Worry hidden behind a veil of laziness in his eyes.

"Please?! Would you listen to me?" She asked them, making a loud voice. She'd had injuries much worse many times before. This was literally nothing. Besides that, it wasn't so much the wound, which was hurting. "It doesn't hurt at all, plea-" Her last words transformed into a squeal she wasn't too proud of as Murasakibara simply lifted her up by one arm and placed her on his back.

He waited for a moment for her to throw her arms resignedly around his neck, before he locked his arms under her legs, being careful with the injured sighed. Gently, he placed her so that it was most comfortable for the both of them, and then glanced back at her. "All right?" He asked.

Lucy sighed lightly, having realized her pleas were left unheard, she wasn't about to be left down to walk again anytime soon. She nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." She said and looked back, when she heard some slightly loud voices.

Nijimura has pulled Haizaki a little in the background, and from what Lucy could see, the Captain seemed almost hostile towards the other guy, stabbing his index finger into the light gray haired boy's chest as he seemed to make his points. Meanwhile, said gray haired boy was looking infinitely bored and annoyed with his captain. She almost wished she could hear what they were talking about…

Lucy looked worriedly back at the two of them. The charisma between them had never been good, right from the beginning. She had thought they'd gotten a little better during this trip, but it seemed she was wrong.

With another resigned sigh, she leaned forward lightly and relented with resting her chin on her tall carrier's shoulder. "Thanks, Atsushi-kun." She told him. Although none of them had listened to her, it had been with the best of intentions, and Murasakibara - all of four years younger than herself - agreed to carry her all the way home. And she appreciated that.

"You can't walk, I need to carry you." He simply stated. The blonde withheld a very unladylike groan, which had appeared when Murasakibara said that, and with that, silence erupted between them. Murasakibara could be a little hard to talk to sometimes… "Is it okay?" He suddenly asked her.

For a moment, she wondered what he was talking about, only to feel stupid when it had taken too long to figure out. She stretched out her leg, so that she could see the 'injured' foot too. There wasn't anything to see at all, it wasn't red or even swelling, which it would if it had been a fracture. "Yeah, it's perfectly fine." She reassured him.

"Sure 'bout that?" Aomine asked with a frown, his eyes glancing to her foot. "You couldn't even stand on it, y'know." He said.

Kuroko nodded. "It looks like a fracture." He commented.

Lucy shook her head at that. "No, it couldn't be. It's not swelling at all." She'd twisted her ankle countless of times back when she first had to learn to walk in the high heels her father wanted her to. And they weren't forgiving in the least, so she'd have her fair share of fractures. And they swelled every time.

Aomine looked up at her as if she was stupid. "Don't tell me you don't know you can fracture a foot without it swelling." He said.

She had, indeed, not known that. She looked away from the two blue haired guys with a little pout. "…Of course I knew that. I'm not stupid!" She lied, feeling her cheeks flush.

She heard him snort, and she looked back at the guy, about to berate him for laughing at her, only for him to break out into a full blown laughter.

She glared at him. "If I could, I would smack you so hard right now." She growled out at him. Of course… She wouldn't. He was just a young boy, after all.

Instead of her doing it though, it seemed Kuroko took up the task she couldn't, as he smacked he back of his friend's head roughly, staying completely silent as he did so. Now Lucy blew into a fit of laughter as Aomine angrily argued with the smaller and much calmer young boy. Even Murasakibara snickered.

Soon enough, they had returned to the main building, where Sanada and Kozo were getting ready for practice to start up again. They both turned to see them all approaching, and Kozo gave them a kind smile. "Good to see you all. Are you ready for practice?" He asked, then looked at Lucy, who still was on Murasakibara's back. "Oh, what is this?" He asked.

"Well…" Lucy started off, pointing her foot forward again. "I twisted my ankle earlier, and overly worried as everyone seems to be, I apparently wasn't allowed to walk." She said with a shrug which said 'I don't understand why'. "Alas, this happened." She said.

Kozo's smile turned into more of a worried frown. "You weren't seriously hurt, were you?" He asked worriedly.

She almost sighed out loud, but relented with just shaking her head at him. "No, I'm all right." She reassured him.

Aomine glared at her. "Stop trying to play cool, idiot. Your ankle's fractured and you can't walk on it. The end." He said, and received a glare from the blonde in return.

The Shirogane began moving forward to meet them in the middle. "I'll take her from here, Murasakibara-kun, you've carried her far enough." He said kindly and gestured for the taller boy to put her down and let him take over.

Murasakibara nodded and silently kneeled down to the ground, carefully letting the blonde stand down with her uninjured foot first. It was ironic how he could be so violent and rough on the court, yet so gentle and careful with her.

The elder man had made his way around her carrier and caught her when she touched the ground. She sighed. "You guys are seriously being too careful with me." She told them. "It's not like I'm made of glass." She added.

The Head coach laughed deeply. "Perhaps, but rather that than we throw you around." He said. "Now, hold on to my shoulder, we'll get that foot fixed up." He said as he let Lucy support herself by having an arm around his shoulders and jumping along on one foot inside as Sanada called for everyone to begin training.

Hopping all the way into her and Momoi's room, where she was placed on her bed. "Why weren't the couches out in the entrance good enough?" She asked, her good leg beginning to hurt at the strain of carrying her whole weight on one leg.

He smiled somewhat sneakily. "Because I am not the one who is going to do the healing." He told her knowingly. She watched him puzzled as he pulled something forth from his pocket. "I believe you haven't met Angelis yet, have you?" He asked her.

The blonde's eyes widened at what he was saying. "You'll finally let me meet one of your Spirits?" She asked him excitedly. She'd been told about them a few times, but had never met any of them.

He nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am." He said and pulled forth the key she had admired many times already for its ancient and beautiful design. "Angelis, as you know, has the power to heal, whereas Daemon has the power to hurt. No matter whether your ankle was simply twisted and no more, or indeed has been fractured, she will heal it." He told her.

Lucy nodded. She had heard all of this before - and read it - so she knew. The two were brother and sister, but, obviously, as different as day and night. One could hurt, the other heal. One was a Devil, the other and Angel. That being said, all she had seen was pictures, she had never had the chance to see them herself.

"So." He said. "That's why we're not doing this in the entrance." He summed up. Then closed his eyes and held the key. "Open, Gate of the Angel. Angelis!" He said as he swiped the key down gently. The golden magic lit up the room, and out of it appeared the Spirit.

The first thing one would notice about her, was her long, purely white wings, which both towered above her and dragged on the ground, folded as they were. She had long, wavy and airy, golden hair, brighter and much more beautiful than her own. Likewise were her big, beautiful eyes, golden as the sun itself and her skin milky white. She wore a loose, white dress with a golden belt high on her waist, making her seem more like a goddess than she already did, even with her bare feet. Above her head was a halo, glowing with the soft brightness of the stars. Beauty was the single and only word, which could properly describer her.

"Ah, Angelis." Kozo greeted her. "It's a pleasure to see you again." He said with a big smile.

The beautiful blonde turned to her master and bowed elegantly, a delicate hand over her hate. "It is a pleasure to be of service as well, Kozo-sama." She replied.

He gave the Angel the kind smile he so often wore. "I'm glad, because we seem to have a patient." He said and gestured to Lucy, who was probably still gaping in awe at the beauty of the Spirit, the Angel, in front of her. "Angelis, this is Lucy, who I have been telling you about." He introduced them.

Once again, the Spirit bowed, this time for her. "It is an honor to meet you, Lucy-sama." She greeted her fellow blonde.

Lucy, who finally collected herself and closed her mouth, smiled widely. "Angelis, please, there's no need to use the honorifics, my Spirits don't use them and neither should you." She said as she waved her hand a little in front of herself.

Angelis looked up, surprised at her words. "But, Lucy-sama, I am not one of your Spirits, is it not wrong not to use honorifics?" She asked her.

Lucy shook her head so fast her hair even beat against her cheeks. "No, not at all! I'm honored I even get to meet you!" She said excitedly.

The Angel flushed in embarrassment at her words. "Oh… Oh my…" She said, unable to procure any other words.

Kozo laughed at the exchange. "Oh, yes. Lucy is a very spirited Celestial mage." He said and laughed at his own joke, and the action of laughing at his own joke made Lucy giggle as well. "Anyhow, Angelis, would you be so kind as to look to Lucy's ankle?" He asked the Spirit.

The Spirit nodded. "Of course, Kozo-sama." She said and got to work.

 **Later~**

Angelis had had no trouble healing her foot, which was indeed fractured as Aomine and Kuroko said it was. She could walk normally and without any limping at all. However, it was a little too magical for the team to believe she was healed completely within ten minutes, when she hadn't even been able to stand on it before.

So, to play it out, they had decided to bandage her foot and have her lie in the bed, her previously bad foot on top of a few pillows, so that it was above her heart, a bag of frozen peas over the bandage, so as to prevent the swelling, which could've come if she hadn't been healed. Jumping around on one leg in sand wasn't the brightest of ideas after all.

Luckily for her, she wasn't alone all day. Momoi had visited her, but when Lucy sent her out to have fun outside rather than hanging around inside with her. So, when she finally convinced the girl to get out, Loke popped up to keep her company, worried as ever. Some of the guys had even visited her, when they got the chance - though they were not many.

At some point though, she really needed some fresh air rather than the muggy air of the room she had stayed in all day. And the chance showed up, when she heard some of the guys from the team get ready for cooking. She could even hear how they were groaning about their lack in abilities and how Lucy had participated in most of the cooking since her first apparent success.

So, today again, she decided to help those who were cooking out. Not many seemed to be any good at cooking at this team for whatever reason. Playing her role out fully, she decided that even within her room, she should jump on that one leg.

She caught up with the team and convinced them to let her help them out with dinner, the team being Nijimura, Murasakibara and Kise, an odd mix. She was ordered to just stay and sit on one of the tables though, only to tell them what they should do and do nothing herself, although it felt a little strange to her. Nonetheless, it all turned out wonderful and tasted really good. All these guys needed were a bit of guidance, their cooking skills were good otherwise.

Now, instead of returning to her room, which she had deliberately told Kozo she didn't really want to, he had invited her to help with the cleaning of dishes, as they didn't have a dishwasher. And the manual work of cleaning it with soap, hot water and towels was nice too, relaxing.

She had, once again, been told to sit on the desks, just to play the whole thing out with her injured foot, and was to dry as Kozo cleaned. There was a lot to clean though, so they had plenty of time to talk.

"You still haven't felt any signs of falling asleep yet, have you?" He asked her curiously. After all, it was his hypothesis that she would stay throughout the entire trip.

Lucy shook her head. "Nope, none at all. Even when I do extreme workout during the night, I barely feel exhausted. It's strange." She told him.

He laughed. "Oh, yes. I remember that." He said. "No matter what you do, you just don't get exhausted or tired." He said. She nodded, remembering the many training sessions she'd had with Loke and Virgo, whom she could now summon herself, though only for a pair of minutes. He looked at her. "So, everything is good on the physical department." He said, to which Lucy looked up confusedly at the weird statement. "What about the psychological department?" He asked.

Lucy looked at him with a frown. "What do you mean with that…?" She slowly asked him. She had an idea, but..

He paused for a moment. "It's been some time since you saw your family back at Earthland… How are you keeping up?" He asked her.

As she thought. But even though she knew, hearing it sent a shock through her. "Well… I mean, I miss them, of course I do…" She trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say.

He nodded. "I understand." He told her. "You're used to seeing them every day and now, you haven't seen them for five days in a row." He said, reciting exactly what she had been thinking.

She nodded, rubbing the side of her face. "Yeah… That's true. I miss them a lot." She said. "Miss Gray and Natsu's constant fighting, dragging in Elfman, Gajeel and eventually Erza when they knock her cake over - that seems to happen every time. Miss being a part of their constant fighting, miss Gajeel telling me to be more rough, both with the constant fighting but also when we play basketball. Miss Mira's perfect strawberry milkshakes, miss little, adorably timid Wendy, miss Cana constantly drinking booze from the barrel. Miss everyone, everything." She said. "There's no doubt about that.." She trailed off again.

"Do I feel a 'but' at the end of that sentence?" He asked her.

She smiled lightly and looked down at the dish she was drying off. " _But…_ that's not what I'm most worried about." She told him hesitantly.

When she had been silent for a second too long, he picked up the thread. "Then what are you worried about, child?" He asked her, handing another dish to her.

She smiled at the plate she was cleaning. There was something about him. Something that just told her, that she could trust him with anything and everything and it wasn't just because he came from the same world she did. It felt like… Something deeper.

"I…" She started out. "Since getting to know everyone… The choice has been getting harder. I… I want to say that no matter what, I'll choose Earthland, Fairy Tail, my family, but…" She paused, breathed in deeply and steeled herself a little. "I'm not so… Sure about that any longer." She slowly said.

He ceased the cleaning he was doing and looked up at her. "Ah, I see." He said and dropped what he was holding, moving to stand in front of Lucy, gently taking her two hands in his. "Listen Lucy, none of the choices you can make are wrong." He told her, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "The one you choose is the one which is right for you, you taught me that yourself, remember?." He reminded her.

She smiled softly at him. "I did, didn't I?" She asked rhetorically. "But.. Kozo.. What if the right place to be isn't one of them, but both of them?" She asked, her voice trembling lightly as she spoke. "I-I can't part with a-any of them." She said, feeling her eyes sting with unshed tears.

Kozo sighed and pulled her into a hug, gently rocking her a little from side to side. "I know the decision is tough, I've been there myself. It seems impossible, how can you choose between family and close friends, your loved ones? It's an impossible choice, and it's most likely something which will happen on a whim." He told her. "But you _will_ have to choose sooner or later, child. There's no way around it I'm afraid." He said.

Lucy buried her head in his shoulder as she fought her tears, reserving them for when she was alone. "I… I know th-that." She stammered, now it wasn't only her voice which trembled. "But how d-do I know which is th-the right choice?" She asked without expecting an answer.

"You don't." He told her firmly. "You don't until you make it. And that's why you make it. Afterwards, you may come to regret it, doubt the decision, but it was the right one then." He said and gently stroke her back.

"If-if only you knew from the be-beginning." She complained unreasonably.

"I know… I know." He said. For a moment they were like that, until he felt her trembling had stopped. "Now then, there is no use worrying more over it right now. Let's finish cleaning, shall we?" He suggested.

Lucy nodded and wiped her eyes, which were only about to let a few drops fall. She had managed not to snot on his shirt. "Yeah, let's." She said with a slightly hoarse voice.

He nodded, smiled and they returned to cleaning and drying off. Soon enough, they were done, and placing them all at their correct spots didn't take much time. By then, it had gotten somewhat late already and they both returned to their rooms. This time though, she just limped rather than jumping on one leg, much easier.

She made it into her room and gently closed the door behind her, as to not wake a potentially sleeping pinkette. When she came around the corner, she found all the lights had been turned off in there and that said pinkette was sleeping soundly. It'd been a long day, after all, so of course she was tired.

And since she was sleeping, Lucy dropped the limping, making her way outside. She decided to wait a little with starting with Gajeel's training program, seeing as some of the guys might still be awake and out on a stroll or something, and seeing her suddenly running without any problems was bound to raise some questions.

She sat down at the wooden floor, which was elevated a little over the sand, so her 'bad' foot could dangle over the edge as she pulled the other in close, wrapping her arms around the leg and resting her chin on the knee as she stared out over the calm see. She let the gently sound of the waves washing over the sand calm her down and relax the tension in her shoulders.

Now, being alone, she couldn't stop the tears which she had kept in when talking with Kozo. They simply rolled down her cheeks while she didn't make a sound, just letting them fall all they wanted. There wasn't any defenses keeping them back, they had complete control over themselves and what they did.

With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes for a moment in a useless effort to keep them back. Useless as it was, they just kept coming when the opened her eyes again.

Her conversation with the Shirogane returned to her and the ever so heavy choice she was to make felt even heavier and more impossible than it usually did.

She was hesitant to admit it, but both worlds had come to be _her_ worlds. She was comfortable both places, both with the way it worked and the people there. Everyone, the team, had come to feel increasingly much like a family, just like Fairy Tail did, only just not as strong as her guild just yet. Here, the team was all her brothers and sister, her siblings, Kozo the ones watching over them all and the one person who kept steady and understood all she was going through, having experienced both worlds as well.

Her love for them all had grown so much it was painful, so much that it was painful to think about this choice. Just because she grew to love everything and everyone here more, it didn't mean she came to love Fairy Tail and everyone there less. That was what was complicated about her decision. She loved both of them more or less equally at this point. All of them. Everything.

It was impossible to choose one. Impossible to leave one behind. Impossible to leave anyone behind.

"Lucy?" She heard from the other end of the long hallway-like terrace. Over there, she saw a silhouette. It was impossible to tell who it was, both because of the light covering the person completely in shadows, but also because her tears were blurring her sight. The person began walking towards her. "Are you all right?" It asked, as it kneeled next to her, revealing it to be Akashi. "Is your foot hurting?" He asked her and was about to continue asking questions, when she stopped him.

She shook her head and quickly, roughly wiped her tears away from her eyes. "I'm sorry you got to see me like this." She apologized, stopping his stream of questions.

Now he shook his head. "It is all right." He told her, and looked worriedly at her, almost like he was studying her face for answers. "You caught me in the same situation once, and helped me through it." He reminded her. The time back at his home, when she had appeared in his room, right in the middle of an argument with his father. "I want to do the same for you now, so tell me what's wrong." He reassured her.

She smiled at him. Despite his usual somewhat cold exterior, he was actually a big softie on the inside. "It's a little complicated." She told him. She couldn't explain the situation properly to him, that would mean she'd have to go and explain everything, and that… Well, she saved that for later.

He sat down next to her demonstratively and looked at her with a determined expression. "Give it a try." He offered.

"Well…" She said, her tears having stopped and left her eyes stinging painfully. "To put it simply, I guess I just miss my friends and family back in.. America." She said slowly and turned to look at him. "You know, those Niji-kun mentioned earlier." She added, hoping that'd make him remember.

He nodded. "I remember. The martial artists, right?" He asked for clarification.

She nodded. "Yeah, exactly." She confirmed and buried her chin on her knee. "It's been longer than I'm used to since I saw them, and.. Well, I miss them." She said and rubbed her eyes - the irritation had finally gotten too much.

"And you're tired too?" He asked.

She shook her head and laughed. "No, I'm not. Which may actually be part of why I was crying." She said thoughtfully.

The redhead looked confusedly at her. "What do you mean?" He asked her.

She smiled softly at him. "Remember when I told you about that sleeping disorder I have?" She asked, to which she was rewarded a nod. "Right, not only does it make me walk around in my sleep and end up strange places, it also makes it impossible for me to sleep sometimes." She explained. "I haven't been showing up strange places during this trip, have I?"

He took a moment to absorb what she'd just said, before it seemed to dawn on him what she was hinting at. "Are you telling me you haven't slept at all these last five days?" He asked her.

She smiled proudly at him, proud he could figure it out and nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what it is." She confirmed. "So, I'm thinking the lack of sleep might be getting to me." She said.

He nodded and stared out over the dark sea. "It would make sense, seeing as when you sleep, is the time when you brain gets to relax and sort everything out." He told her.

She nodded. "Yeah." She looked down at him with a smile. "That being said, I won't hold you back any longer, Sei-chan. You should go and let your mind sort everything out." She said, using his own words.

He looked at her with a slight frown. "But-" She already cut him off here, knowing what he was getting at without even having to think much about it.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now, it was just a moment of weakness." She reassured him and all on automatic, her hand reached up and rand through his thick, red strands. "Thank you for your concern though." She thanked him.

A little surprised with the sudden contact, he just stared at her for a short moment, before answering. "You are welcome." He said and slowly got to his feet. "Well, as you said, I should get to bed as well. See you tomorrow, Lucy." He said.

She nodded. "Yeah, good night, Akashi." She replied and waved as he disappeared into the boys' room.

Looking out over the waves again, she decided to wait just a little longer before beginning the nightly routine.

 **Aaaaall right. Long chapter. Love it. XD  
And I hope you do too, of course~**

 **Remember a few chapters back I wanted to add a scene with Kozo and Lucy washing dishes and talking together? Yup, this is it. ^-^ Hope it was to your satisfaction!**

 **Also, if you're wondering about the whole thing about her foot getting fractured, how it happened, basically Haizaki stepped on her foot to make her fracture - or at least injure - it on purpose. Why? Well because he wanted to play the hero who carried her back, of course. Unfortunately he was discovered and his plans spoiled as Murasakibara carried her home XD**

 **Anywho, hope you had enough Akashi this time, and thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed and last but not least read! Please keep doing what you do, and I will too!**

 **~Line464d**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 **I am so SO sorry for the late upload guys! I've been very busy lately getting my driver's license, doing school and life and the one chapter I always have had in advance disappeared somewhere along the ride. I hope to get everything back into order soon, one way or another, but please bear with me as I figure everything out!**

 **Sooo~ The 6th day!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!** **  
** **Disclaimer: Mmh, you guessed it. None of these characters or all the arcs belong to me, they belong with their respective owners!**

 **Earth~**

"Ah, Kuroko. Is something wrong?" Lucy asked the little, blue haired boy, who was sitting on the sand, not participating in training, and sweating like a waterfall after the run. After all, he and Murasakibara had joined the rest of them, now they just needed Haizaki, but he was probably a lost cause.

His somewhat pained, blue eyes met hers and he quickly wiped some sweat off his forged, before feigning ignorance. "Oh, I'm fine." He said with a strange attempt at a smile.

She simply raised an eyebrow. "This doesn't have anything to do with you having to speed down halfway, does it?" She asked him. During the run they'd just had, where Murasakibara and he had joined, Kuroko had to go and run the ordinary pace, the one Haizaki was going at - if not a little slower - about halfway, a little after maybe.

When she heard this morning that the little boy wanted to join, she expected it already, that he'd not be able to hold out the entire way. It was no secret he wasn't the most fit person on the team.

When Kuroko looked away to the side, she had her answer. She sighed lightly and smiled a little, soft smile. "Don't think too much about it, Kuro-kun. No one else does." She reassured him.

Drawing circles in the warm sand, he replied with a mumble. "But I couldn't keep up at all." He said lowly, his breathing still slightly challenged from the recent run.

Lucy, in a sort of gesture of solidarity, also began drawing in the sand. "No, you didn't." She bluntly said, making the younger boy look up at her confusedly, wondering what she was getting at. "And that was to be expected." She added as she finished the Fairy Tail insignia she'd been drawing before looking at him and his even more confused expression. "Your strengths and weaknesses have a much sharper contrast than many others' do." She explained.

His expression adapted into a frown. "More sharply contrasted…?" He slowly repeated in an asking tone.

Seeing he still didn't quite understand, she figured she should elaborate on what she meant. "You see, let's take Sei-kun for example. Outwardly he doesn't seem like he has any weaknesses, right?" She asked the boy next to her. He shook his head and she smiled, that was the answer she'd been expecting. "Of course, he does." She said. "His problems lie in his height, for example. He has to be quick on his feet if he wants to steal a ball, because he doesn't have the long limbs Midorima does, for example and he tends to disappear behind the other and taller opponents. On top of tht, he can't always muster as much power as some can." She explained to the blue haired boy.

Kuroko nodded slowly, processing what he'd been told. "I see…" he mumbled.

Lucy continued when she figured he'd had enough time to absorb the information. "Then there's also the other end, Atsushi-kun." She said. "Now, of course he doesn't have the problems in terms of heights and power. Or, well… He actually does." She corrected herself. "Sometimes when he passes the ball to his teammates, he puts too much force into it - you must have experienced that too." To which he nodded silently again, listening intently to what she said. "So it can sometimes be difficult to receive and catch a pass from him," She explained. "On top of that, his height is very intimidating to others, especially with his long arms and sometimes somewhat visible muscles, so he often gets double-teamed and can be hard to pass a ball to." She explained as he nodded along.

It seemed the blue haired teen thought back on the matches they'd had so far and seemed to recognized what she'd explained and with a nod urged her to continue.

"Now." She said with a smile. "Your weakness lies in you endurance." She said. "You're simply not the type, who runs long routes and stays on the court throughout the entire match." She said, to which he responded by restarting his drawing in the sand. "But." She said, getting his attention back from the small grains. "Your strengths are quite noteworthy." She reassured him as she watched practice go on in front of her. "More so than anyone else on the team, you have your speed." She said and giggled when she saw him getting all flustered and embarrassed by her words. "If I'm not keeping an eye on you, it seems as if you teleport from one place to the other." She told him. And she wasn't even exaggerating.

Kuroko, although blushing and embarrassed, still managed to furrow his eyebrows, not quite believing what she told him. "I'm not that fast." He responded.

She raised a blonde brow at that. "It may not seem that way for you, but believe me when I say you are." She told him and looked back over the horizon again. "But speed isn't your only strength, you also have incredibly precise passes and unforeseen steals, which of course are aided by your speed, but also by your third strength - your low presence." She told him and raised her hands in the universal sign of giving up. "I know you hate it, but if you didn't have it, what would have happened to your basketball career?" She asked, urging him to think a little.

He didn't actually need to though, he already knew the answer. "It wouldn't have existed." He simply stated. The way he said it, it seemed like something he had told himself thousands of times in front of a mirror.

She nodded. "Exactly. Without your low presence those passes and steals would be as good and almost magical as they are, the effect simply wouldn't be the same." She followed up from where he left off. "Even your misdirection, which is the foundation of your playing style would be difficult if your presence wasn't as it is." She added. His whole style relied on unpredictability, which would disappear if his presence and speed combined didn't make it seem like he just appeared and disappeared like it did.

He nodded, the sweat and breathlessness had vanished sometime during the now quite long rant she had embarked on and he was actually physically ready to begin practice with everyone.

But she wasn't quite done with him yet. "Even though you know all this, it doesn't always help so much." She said, now speaking from experience. "Yeah, you can work on your weak points, but they can only get so much better." She said and smiled at hm. "Those 'so much' may actually make a big difference though." She reassured him. "But even if they don't, if you just help and assist, doing the best you can, no one can complain." She said.

"So I just have to do my best?" Kuroko asked, probably for clarification and reaching a conclusion.

She nodded. "Do your best at what you're good at." She told him. "And show everybody you'll never give up, no matter what cards life deals you." She added as an afterthought.

With a little smile, he nodded determinedly. "All right." He said in a way that didn't make her doubt he'd remember those words. He stood up from his seat and brushed sand off his clothes. "I'll never give up, I promise." He said and then ran out towards the court and everyone, who received him with smiles - when they realized he was there.

She smiled tenderly after the boy as he went away, not physically giving any signs of recognition of Kozo coming to stand next to her, although she'd registered it in her mind.

The Shirogane was also looking after the boy with a similar smile. "Remind you of yourself, doesn't he?" He asked.

She nodded, not taking her gaze from her previous conversation partner. "Yeah, he really does." After all, some of the thoughts he had, she had too, though it was more concerning magic than basketball for her. "It's the same for you, right?"

The adult man nodded in agreement. "A lot." He simply replied.

 **Later~**

"Heartfilia! I've got an idea!" Aomine said from inside the building as he came running out after having been in the baths, looking around with a grand smile on his face, trying to find her.

Momoi next to her giggled at his slight stupidity. Lucy just smiled at it and shook her head. "Let me hear it then, Daisuki-chan." She called out to him, alerting him of where she was.

The grand smiled turned to them in an instant, making drops of water he hadn't bothered to dry off in his rush fly out in every direction. In this heat it probably wouldn't take long before it dried by itself anyway.

Now he'd spotted them and found their location, he set into a run to reach them. "I've got an idea!" He said again, just as ecstatically as before.

The blonde nodded. "Yes, we heard." She replied. "Spit it out then." She added.

"What if we do a tournament?!" He almost yelled, standing right in front of them and blowing up their eardrums. Almost.

"A tournament?" Momoi repeated questioningly. "Here?" She asked.

Lucy nodded to the hidden implication of her words. "I don't think we're enough people for a tournament, Daisuki-chan. We can barely manage two teams with just us here." She reasoned. "Well, unless you know someone around here." She added.

"I don't." He said, which made her do a shrug, which said 'Told you so'. But Aomine didn't have any intentions of giving up just because of that. "But it's not going to be a team-tournament either!" He said, clearly convinced this tournament of his would be a thing. "It's just going to be one on ones." He explained.

The blonde smiled at his refusal to give up, which was incredibly alike a certain pinkette she knew. And it wasn't the one next to her.

She gave him a single nod. "All right, that actually sounds like a good plan." She said as she stood up from the ground.

Aomine narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean with 'actually'?" He asked her suspiciously.

She completely ignored his question and continued with one of her own. "You haven't told the others, right?" She asked and didn't give him a chance to reply before continuing on. "We need to tell them so that we know who wants to join and can make a roster." She said, slowly getting as hyped as her blue haired friend.

"There is no need to worry about that." Midorima reassured her as he and basically the rest of the team approached them. How they had made it outside and so far without anyone noticing, no one could explain. "That has already been taken care of." He said as he handed her a piece of paper.

She read it over as Aomine and Momoi looked at it over her shoulder. On it was a roster, neatly lined up and all.

 _Akashi vs Kise  
Lucy vs Haizaki  
Midorima vs Aomine  
Murasakibara vs Nijimura_

"First one who gets three goals wins." The green haired teen explained. "Then the winners play against each other, and in the end there's only one left." He told them.

She nodded absentmindedly as she handed him the paper back thinking about her match-up, wondering who made hem. She didn't hate Haizaki - that wasn't it. He just.. Well, he was becoming too much, especially recently. But he was probably different when you play against him in a match.

The blonde looked up when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about the match-ups, Lucy." Nijimura said with a low voice as to not draw attention to the two of them while everyone walked towards the court, gathering around it. "It was arranged with wishes and… He wished for you, so…"He trailed off.

Lucy nodded and smiled reassuringly at the Captain. "It's all right, Niji-kun. I'll beat him for sure." She promised him.

"That's not exactly what I meant…" he mumbled incorrigibly. She knew that, but… "Give it your all and win, though." He said.

She nodded. "Yeah, you too." She replied as they reached everyone else, coming to a stop next to Akashi and Midorima. Momoi and Kuroko were sitting together on the other side. If she remembered correctly, none of them were going to be playing any matches. Which wasn't weird seeing as Kuroko wasn't an offensive, scoring type and Momoi really didn't play basketball at all.

So, the first to play against each other were Akashi and Kise. The two stepped out to face each other, at each of their sides of the court.

Momoi, who'd gotten up from where she sat, was walking towards the center of the court, moving along the mid-court line, ball in hand. She came to a stop in front of the two, who were ready to jump for the ball. Receiving a nod from each of the two, the pinkette threw the ball up in the air and quickly ran out of the court and out to her seat next to Kuroko.

Meanwhile, Kise and Akashi had already begun the match. Perfectly timed, something the blonde had learned through watching practice the first few days, he jumped just as the ball reached the top of its ascension.

Akashi, on the other hand, seemed to realize he had no chance to get the ball in this tipoff and stayed on the ground so he was ready to either defend or steal it once the blonde landed on the ground again.

Said blonde had seen through the redhead's plans though and with a quick crossover got the ball out of his reach, dribbling with his left hand and keeping it away with his longer arms.

But, as she had told Kuroko earlier, Akashi was quick on his feet and quickly me around and stole Kise's ball, already then being in motion and therefore having an easy time speeding up, whereas Kise first had to stop up, turn around and then he could finally speed up. However by then, Akashi had already passed the mid-court.

So now it was 1-0 to Akashi.

Kise ran up, grabbing the orange and black piece of rubber before it got too far away as Akashi retuned to his own side of the court.

The blonde's expression was determined as he looked at the redhead's unchanging one. "Tch, I wanted to see why you are the Vice Cap. Hope there's more to it than this." He told his opponent.

Akashi rolled his shoulders almost nonchalantly. "Do not worry. You have seen nothing yet." He reassured him. Besides, Akashi's strengths were most clear when he played with the team.

The blonde crouched a little, almost like a predator in the middle of its hunt. He began dribbling more forcefully as he waited for the time he'd get an opportunity, when Akashi's defense was getting a little lax. That was when he would strike.

Only problem with that was that he hadn't taken Akashi's stubbornness into account. She doubted that boy ever had his guard down in a match, he was always on guard, ready for every move, his mind spinning with possibilities.

Alas, Kise got impatient and in a move of impatience and aggressiveness charged forward. Akashi, ready as always, defended well against the blonde. He pressured his opponent, infuriating him, while ever letting him through either, which only served to frustrate the blonde further.

Which was all probably according to Akashi's plan, as the blonde made rash moves. Moves which made it easy for Akashi to once again steal the ball and score another goal for himself.

2-0 to Akashi.

Gritting his teeth together, Kise once again went to pick up the ball, holding it so forcefully his knuckles turned white. From where she was, she could almost see the gears turning in his head, as he tried to figure out a way to beat the redhead, score a single goal.

He adopted a little smirk as he seemed to figure something out. Once again he charged forward rashly, not even thinking about the fact that the hand he was dribbling the ball in made it much easier for Akashi to take it right out of his hands. And so he did when Kise made a strange move which almost made him stop up and run backwards.

Though the redhead stole the ball, he didn't get very far, before the ball was once again out of his hands and in the blonde's. Lucy raised a brow at what she'd just seen. So basically Kise had planned for Akashi to steal the ball and make him think he had the last goal in the bag, only to take it right out of his hands and speeding off to score his first goal. It was the exact same as with the first goal of Akashi's

So now it was 2-1 between the two of them. Though it was a strange way to score a goal…

And as Akashi went to the ball to pick it up, he also looked slightly impressed, though confused, but said nothing as he handled it with precision from one hand to another, probably weighing his choices. Suddenly, very alike what Kise had done earlier, the little boy shot into motion, dribbling the ball quickly into the ground and as he reached his opponent, he made three dizzyingly fast crossovers before rolling past the blonde, never even losing an ounce of his speed. He kept running towards the net, jumped up when he was close and used the board to land the ball in the net.

And so was their match concluded. 3-1 to Akashi. Well, honestly, as he was the Vice Captain and had much more experienced than the blonde was.

She saw Midorima cross Kise's name out and look up at her, his usually somewhat hard eyes softer than usual as he signaled she could enter the court. She looked back with a smile to the ones she'd been standing with, before turning, with the same smile, to Haizaki on the other side of the court. He was standing there confidently, with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Ready to get your ass beat, Haizaki?" She asked him as she approached the mid-court line, which was where he was standing at the ready.

His smirk only widened at that. "Yeah, if you'll do it, I'm all in for it." He said lecherously, which only resulted in her rolling her eyes and getting a sympathetic look from the pinkette, who was approaching with the ball. "Well, it's not like a girl like you can beat me anyway." He said haughtily.

Lucy straightened her back and looked at him offended. "Excuse me?" She said with a higher pitch than anticipated.

Meanwhile Aomine snorted from the sidelines. "Shouldn't've said that." He said as Kuroko nodded.

The blonde girl glared at Haizaki, who looked back at Aomine as if he was stupid, for a moment longer before turning to Momoi, who was ready to throw the ball with a determined gaze. She'd beat this guy no matter what it took now, she wouldn't even care if her inner Gajeels showed their ugly heads.

Standing side by side, they nodded for Momoi to throw it up in the air. Deciding it was time for some payback - an idea the Gajeel on her right shoulder got - she moved her own foot to hover over Haizaki's and without any hesitation, she stepped on it when she saw the target was nearing its peak and that her opponent was getting ready to jump.

While her opponent looked from his foot to her with a surprised yelp, probably shocked she'd do something like that. But she definitely would under the influence of her inner Gajeels, and before he'd returned to the game, she had already jumped and grabbed the ball. She landed with her back to Haizaki, whose foot was now hurting from her pushing off from it.

Without giving him any chances, she sped past him, doing a pirouette-roll and dribbling off towards his goal, scoring herself the first goal.

She turned to her opponent who was still complaining about his foot and smiled devilishly - completely taken over. "Aww, can't poor, little Hai-chan take some payback?" She asked him tauntingly.

The gray haired teen looked at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes. Probably both from her earlier actions, her words and how she so easily scored a goal. He turned to Aomine for help, but the guy only shrugged carelessly. "Told ya so, she ain't taking any insults." He told him, shuddering from the memories he had of the very same situations.

The blonde's opponent scoffed as the crowd watched on curiously at the development. It was certainly a side of Lucy none - except Kuroko and Aomine - had ever seen before now. The confused, gray haired teen went to pick up the ball, which had ended at the feet of Murasakibara, who handed it to him with one gigantic hand.

He turned around to face the blonde, which seemed to have flames raging behind her, almost as if they were reaching out to him angrily, wanting to burn him to ashes. The sight made him gulp somewhat nervously. As he began dribbling forward, suddenly that fiery aura seemed to disappear suspiciously and instead she looked at him with a look with a strange look.

When he came close enough, she out of nowhere ran at him, but not with the intention he'd thought. Instead of ramming him down like a bull would, she stuck to him, leaning in close as a hand ran down from his shoulder and down the arm which now held the ball completely still as he was shocked to the core of what was happening. Though also excited seeing as this was what he'd been aiming for since forever.

Figuring the tournament could wait, he looked at her face, which was incredibly close, and wearing one of those expressions he loved to see on girls. "Finally gave in to the attraction, huh?" He asked her somewhat huskily, not caring who heard.

She smiled at him. "Idiot." She then said frostily as she took the ball right out of his hands and ran towards the goal once again, not minding how her opponent suddenly was hit by the frosty blizzard of rejection. She threw the ball in the middle of her run, letting it hit the backboard before going down through the net.

She could hear Aomine laughing loudly in the little crowd they'd gathered along with a few snickers and chuckles here and there, all of which just boosted her and her Gajeels' confidence.

It seemed Haizaki now realized that maybe she was a bit tougher than he had first expected, what with her having scored two consecutive goals without any trouble whatsoever.

So as soon as he picked up the ball, he began charging towards the blonde and the goal behind her, intent on scoring at least one goal for himself, otherwise his dignity as a man would be completely gone. Of course he knew that she was much faster than he was, but he was stronger physically than she was and bigger, so he just had to use that to force his way through her defenses.

Well, he would learn a lot of new things that day, such as the blonde girl being much stronger than you would think. This he found out when he tried to just force his way through her, and she just continued to defend like she hadn't just been run into by someone, like he was just a fly and she was a window.

He gritted his teeth, if she could defend against him and his apparently not so superior strength with her very much superior speed, then there was only one thing he could do to score a goal. Unfortunately he couldn't steal Midorima's longshots, he could follow it though.

So he raised the ball above his head quickly, preparing to throw it toward the goal. Right as he threw it though, Lucy managed, in an effort to get the ball, to blow his throw out of its original direction just so that it hit the backboard instead. When they both ran for the ball, her speed once again showed its superiority as she easily caught the ball and ran down the court with him trying to follow after with what he got. And seemingly just to add insult to injury, she made a perfect 3-point goal from the three-point arc.

The blonde, with a bright smile, turned to her opponent victoriously. "Well, thanks for the match, Haizaki." She thanked him, seemingly back to herself again.

He just grunted in reply and made it out to the sidelines, sulking like a kid who hadn't been allowed to get a cookie from the can. Meanwhile, as she returned to her side, she was greeted by Aomine who was grinning widely at her, his hand raised in the air for a high five.

She delivered that high five and they both laughed. "Awesome match, Heartfilia." He told her. "You should'a given him a chance though." He laughed.

"Maybe I should have…" She admitted. "But this felt better." She grinned, to which he replied with an agreeing nod.

"I'm pretty sure some of the things you did out there wouldn't have been accepted if it had been a real match." Nijimura commented next to her.

She shrugged. "Probably, but he deserved it." She said without a doubt. She turned to Aomine, who was the next one to go play, against Midorima. "Come on Daisuki-chan, it's your turn." She said and pushed him out on the court.

Though this was a match-up of opposites, what with Aomine always staying near the ground and Midorima throwing the ball high into the air, and a very difficult match for the both of them, in the end Aomine came out victorious. And it was only because he caught the ball at the tip-off. None of them could take each other's balls, it just went unhindered from one goal to the other each time.

So that was a match quickly passed with the ace of the team the winner.

Next up; Murasakibara and Nijimura. Now this was a longer match. Though Nijimura was strong with drives and much faster than Murasakibara, the tall guy's defense was practically impenetrable. Fortunately - for Nijimura - Murasakibara didn't feel like going all out on his Captain today, so his usually actually impenetrable defense was not quite as impenetrable as usual. Likewise, his strong offense wasn't as critical either. That way, Nijimura got some goals in and thereby won the match.

So now the match-ups were as following:

 _Akashi vs Lucy  
Aomine vs Nijimura_

And so she found herself out on the court again, ready to face off against Akashi. She didn't doubt this'd be hard. As Kise tested out for everyone, it wasn't without reason the redhead had been chosen as Vice Captain of their team.

When Momoi threw the ball up, the blonde found that this time, the redhead aimed to go for the ball as well, so she wouldn't have to think twice about going for it herself.

Using a bit extra force, like she had when she played against Gray a while ago, she shot off from the ground and caught the ball before Akashi. During this match, it wasn't likely many words would be exchanged, both of them were focusing hard on the match they were playing.

She landed on the ground with her back to her opponent, who landed a fraction of a second after her, already on the defense. Feigning to go to the left, she quickly did a crossover and instead went right, running ahead towards the goal and barely scoring the goal with Akashi right at her heels.

Both of them were the speedy types with not as much power in their play as some, which was why this was quite difficult. Their playing style was quite similar.

As she quickly returned to her end, the redhead picked up the ball and faced her. Without a moment's hesitation, he set into motion, dribbling the ball swiftly as he ran towards her just as fast. When he was close enough, she also began moving forward, pushing the ball out of his hands and behind him, where she caught it and ran forward, back where he came from.

Unfortunately Akashi had already read what she had wanted to do and was prepared, so she didn't get very far before he took it back from her and proceeded to score himself a goal so they had an equal amount of goals. For now.

She went to pick the ball up and calmly dribbled it as she tried to develop some sort of strategy as to what she'd do. Figuring she could go for a three-pointer, she sped up into a run, going straight for the redhead. When she was just a few steps in front of him, she used her momentum to fuel her jump.

But with a force she had not known he had, Akashi set off from the ground and slammed the ball out of her hands, sending it bouncing on the ground behind her. He landed before she did and quickly went for the ball and a second later she landed too, turning around to find him having the ball under his control already.

Knowing she could still make it, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. And miraculously almost she ran fast enough to could catch up to, pass and be ready to defend against her opponent, who was running towards her.

He wasn't fazed at all with her sudden burst of speed, and as he approached her began doing confusing crossovers from hand to hand, between the leg around and behind himself, going faster and faster each time the ball bounced off the ground.

Trying to follow what was going on, Lucy tried to predict what he was going to do, watching out for his movements and how the ball moved. However as he was dribbling as intricately as he was, it was bound to make her stumble across her own feet and fall down on her butt, allowing him free passage to score the goal.

While she found herself surprised with what had happened, she suddenly saw a hand in front of her face. Grabbing what turned out to be Akashi's hand, he helped her up in a show of genuine and true show of sportsmanship. She gave him a quick thanks and a smile as they each went their way, Lucy to pick up the ball.

She had to really play her A-game now if she wanted to win. Akashi couldn't even score a single goal, then he would win. And she still needed to score two before she won. She'd probably have to draw in hints of the basket Gajeel wanted her to play…

Like him, this time she didn't hesitate as she charged down the court and all the way to where he was defending - or rather a little in front of that, seeing as he intended to pressure her. However, with what she had in mind, moving a mater backwards didn't mean much. A few steps in front of him, she jumped into the air and hurled the ball towards the net with no arc at all on the ball's route. That was the first out of the two goals she had to score… This was the deciding ball in their match.

He picked the ball up and got it under control as he dribbled the ball almost determinedly from where he stood underneath his net. Both knew they had to put their all into this one.

Their eyes locked and then both ran towards each other. When they were within three steps of each other, Akashi suddenly rolled to the right, but she had seen that one coming, so she snuck it out of his hands while he spun around and continued forward. He quickly caught up to her, running alongside her, before he passed her - just as she had him earlier - and stood defense right in front of her.

She had to think unpredictably, Akashi figured everyone out. What'd Natsu do in this situation - the most unpredictable person she knew? Right… She knew what to do.

As she approached, she didn't even consider doing any faints, rolls or strange dribbles to get past Akashi, instead she picked the ball up in her left hand and as she began moving to the right, she threw the ball up in the air, high above Akashi, passing to herself that way, as it came right down into her hands on the other hand of the poor, confused redhead. She immediately jumped up before he got to terms with her strange pass to herself and scored her final goal.

Landing back on the ground again, she found this match truly had been quite exhausting on her. And her opponent too it appeared as she looked at him, where his red bangs were clinging to his forehead. "Thanks for the match, Sei-kun." She said, her voice affected with the tinge of breathlessness she had after all the fast running.

He nodded. "Yes, indeed." He agreed, looking down as he seemed to catch his breath, before looking back up at her again. "I was not aware you could play basketball so well, that practice you do with Daiki and Tetsuya must is paying off." He commented.

She nodded as they both made it back to the sidelines. "Yes, well. I guess it does." She agreed. That, the basketball she did on Earthland and even the training she did with Gajeel. Probably a mix of all that.

Next up were Aomine and Nijimura. And as was expected of a match between the Ace of the team and the Captain of the very same team, the match was an exciting one. They were almost evenly matched, throughout it all, and it was very long too, stealing the ball from each other, good defenses. But ultimately the winner was named, and it was the Ace.

 _Lucy vs Aomine_

So now she was to play against said Ace. They grinned at each other when they met at the center of it, Aomine still sweating and ready after the match he'd just had. This was going to be tough, especially because she and he knew how each other played after having played against each other so many times when after practice had ended back at Teiko. But just like it always was then, this would be fun to do.

Momoi threw the ball up in the air and left the two alone on the court. They both jumped at the same time after the ball - just as it reached the peak - but with Aomine already being warmed up and all, he was the one who caught the ball. Not to forget his annoyingly long arms.

Lucy quickly ran after him as he hurried towards her goal, coming to defend in front of him. When he moved to feint to the right, she read it and moved to the left, blocking whatever he had in mind to do. Then he moved to the left again, hoping to create an opening there, but once again, she followed. Expecting he would go back right, she wouldn't fall for the feint he gave. But to her surprise he went left again and drove past her.

She wouldn't let it be there though, so she quickly reached out and hit the ball out of his hands and towards herself. She then proceeded to speed up, going down the court. Hearing the blue haired boy right behind her, she jumped up and threw the ball, a little away from the three-point arc. Her first goal of the match.

Now he started with the ball again and all she could see in the way he was holding it and the fire burning in his eyes, was that he was thoroughly excited with what was going on. He shot forward in a burst of speed while she wasn't entirely prepared, blowing right past her and scoring a goal for himself.

She scoffed as she went to pick up the ball. That was rude of him, just going on ahead while she wasn't ready. She turned around to see him smirking at her. He was fully aware what he'd just done was rude as hell.

She glared halfassedly at him, setting into motion towards him. If he could do it, so could she. With that, she sped up even more, approaching him faster. Trying to do evasive actions to get around his defenses, she did an ocean of different dribble-combinations, but none of them worked. His defense was firm. Finally, getting irritated with him, she jumped backwards as she threw the ball at the net.

However Aomine reacted faster than she had expected and jumped up, catching the ball in one hand. Landing roughly on the ground, he began running forward, her right beside him, towards her net. She tried to fish for the ball several times, but he always got it out of her reach right as she thought she had it - as if he was teasing her. Which he probably was, knowing him.

As soon as they came within the arc, she began pressing him as far away from the net as possible - he usually didn't even attempt to score outside it. The pressure went as far as to the very edge of the court, almost, as she continued to press him down towards the edge of the court. He, realizing he probably wouldn't get through her, and that getting all the way down to the edge would mean he didn't have any chances at scoring, threw the ball from the already impossible angle he was at.

When the ball began circling around the hoop, they both ran to stand right underneath it to hopefully get the rebound themselves. Luckily for Aomine, that wasn't necessary and Lucy caught the ball as it fell right down into her hands, through the hoop.

If she wanted to win this… Aomine wasn't the same as Akashi, she knew that. As the game proceeded, he would continue to get better and better, therefore she couldn't just do as she did with the redhead. Aomine loved the game more than anyone else, he'd never tire out. She needed to do something more than that to beat him.

"Well.." She mumbled to herself. "It's about time I showed you my trump card, isn't it, Daisuki-chan?" She asked him, planning her battle plan already.

"Your trump card?" He asked her confusedly as he returned to the other side of the midcourt. "You have a trump card?" He continued.

"This'll make you proud, Gajeel." She mumbled to herself. In a moment's notice, she adapted 100% to the aggressive playing style which plagued her guild. She crouched low, lower than she usually would, her mind completely in the game - more so than it was before.

In what to Aomine seemed like a flash of speed, Lucy set off the ground and towards him, dribbling the ball furiously between her hands, taking a page from Akashi's book. She first made a feint to the right, then to the left, approaching her opponent all the while. He tried to follow the best he could and when he recognized the move she did with picking the ball up in her left hand, thinking she'd throw it above him like she did the redhead earlier, he was surprised to find she instead passed to herself by throwing the ball into the ground between his legs and catching it on the other side.

She was almost right underneath the net, when she threw the ball up, let it run by the backboard and then down through the net cleanly.

The blonde ran back to her half as the baffled blue haired boy went to pick the ball up again. While he was surprised, when he turned to her again, it seemed he had just accepted it for now, as that was the best he could do in the middle of the match, to up his chances of scoring the final, deciding goal. If he didn't, then she did after all.

When he spurred into movement, running towards her and her goal, she ran to meet him somewhere around the midcourt line, a little behind it. She put as much pressure on him as she could muster, pushing him further and further back. With quick and precise movements, he managed to get past her though, running towards her goal.

She was quicker though, and quickly stole the ball, running towards his goal instead. With this, he sprinted as fast as he could - which was fast with the running in the sand he'd been doing with her - and came to stand in front of her.

She wasn't fazed in the least though. Even though he stood steadily there, protecting his goal, she didn't move to any of the sides. She had a plan. When she got so close she would have normally done something to come around his defenses, she continued forward a few steps more before she with the momentum she acquired from her run and with a powerful push into the ground with her whole body, she jumped high into the air, above Aomine, and all the way to the net, where she slammed the ball down through.

She landed on the ground with a smile, as she looked to Aomine. "Guess it's my win." She said as she unceremoniously dumped all the way down to lie on the ground, more exhausted than she'd been for a while now.

Aomine took quick steps towards her, looking down at her with wide, impressed yet shocked eyes. "Where… In the hell… Did you… Learn to play… Like that… Heartfilia?!" He asked her breathlessly, which made it lose some of its otherwise quite strong effect.

She looked up at him with a raised brow. "What? You expect me to… Just twiddle my thumbs… When I'm not with you?" She asked him sarcastically, somewhat less breathless than him.

The words made him fall to the ground as well, lying next to her. "Guess not." He said. Though all she could see was his feet.

And smell them too. "Your feet stink, idiot." She said. Which sent the both of them out into a fit of laughter, for absolutely no reason at all. Does exhaustion rob you of humor?

' **Kay, 'kay I'm ending it here.**

 **All right, so first, let me apologize again for the late chapter, I'm so sorry! I will first reply to your reviews from the previous, and this one if there are any, tomorrow, I am simply too tired to do it today. This chapter isn't proofread either.  
Well, I guess that's what writing 3.300+ words in a school day does to you… **

**Either way, I hope you liked this little tournament and her chat with Kuroko! I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, and now I finally got the chance. It got a little longer than expected - which is why I skipped over some of the matches. Especially Nijimura and Aomine's match, I'm annoyed I had to cut that one short too :/  
Either way, hope you liked it~  
And of course, for now the only reason she beat them so 'easily' is because none of them really have developed the skills they do when they get older yet (Forgetting Kuroko). Aomine, Kise and Midorima are well on their way, likewise with Akashi, Murasakibara and I guess Haizaki too. **

**But yeah, I'll end it off here. Hope you liked the extended chapter though it's late~**

 **Thank you to all who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed! You're awesome support, guys!**

 **~Line464d**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: M-mh, nope, I don't own either, any of the characters, only some of the plot of this story XD**

 **Earth~**

"I overheard the two coaches talking about making today different than the other days, that's probably why they're late." Nijimura stated, when the entire team had waited for their two coaches - or if at all possible, just one of them really - to show up for ten minutes, so they could all of them why in the world they weren't running already.

So far, they hadn't even seen or heard the slightest hint of them.

"Really?" Lucy asked. "Sounds interesting." She said.

"Still, that does not justify their tardiness." Midorima commented as his fingers traveled to his glasses, as they had so many times already.

Aomine shrugged. "Don't be so stiff, Shintaro, just use the time to relax." He said from where he was lying on the ground, seemingly enjoying the sun's rays rather than curse them all the way to hell, as he regularly did during training.

"Speaking of the devil.." Akashi muttered, facing the entrance, where Kozo and Sanada finally had appeared.

The elder of the two raised both of his hands in resignation when he saw all the expressions turned to him, demanding answers. "Please forgive us for being late." He said, lowering his hands again as a smile conquered his features. "But I do believe you'll all like the news we bring you." He said almost confidently.

"We'll see 'bout that when you tell us." Aomine said, having gotten up from the ground and faced the two adults with everyone else.

This time Sanada took the word. "We have decided to give you all a mandatory day of rest." He said firmly. "Every basketball has been confiscated and locked away so there will not be any chances of playing it today." He told them.

"I think his and my definitions of giving someone something are quite different." She whispered to those standing near her, being rewarded with a few different giggles and snickers.

The Shirogane seemed to sigh lightly. "And that is the stricter part of today's schedule." He said with an almost berating tone at Sanada, who didn't seem to register that it was directed at him. "The more funny part is the local festival of sorts which they're hosting in the nearest town." He said with a kind smile, which in collaboration with his words made smiles spread on the players' faces.

"Which you will only be allowed to attend after the baths, bathrooms, the kitchen and your rooms have been entirely cleaned and your luggage packed with everything you brought with you here." Sanada, the eternal killjoy, then added, making all the smiles turn into pre-exhausted groans. The man clapped his hands together twice, signaling for them to begin. "The sooner you're done, the sooner you can go to that festival of yours." He said, which simply made the groan once again and sulk as they went inside to pack everything down again.

 **Later~**

"Aargh! That man is a damn slave driver!" Aomine complained for the umpteenth time that day.

"Yes, your opinion was quite clear the first time. Saying it a hundred times will not make us have a better understanding of it." Akashi sad, having grown tired of his constant nagging. Like the rest of them.

The blue haired guy scoffed at the redhead's words, but kept silent as the entire team walked out of the now spotless building and outside. Then, the silence was once again broken. "You gotta admit though, the toilets were dis-" He started again.

"Dai-chan!" Momoi almost yelled at him as she smacked the back of his head. "I know you're dense, but can't you take a hint?" She asked him in a frustrated tone, almost sounding like she was complaining too.

"Right, right, I'll shut up now!" He finally said, probably figuring it was smarter to just give up than it was to argue with her.

They looked around for their coaches for the second time that day, wanting to report the completion of the task they'd been given. They didn't have to look for long though, as the two of them were sitting leisurely by a table, drinking red wine or something like that.

The ace of the team seemed to have steam blowing out of every hole he had in his face. "Damn old geezers." He grunted angrily as he prepared to stomp over there and probably throw the wine as far away as possible.

Before he could do anything though, Lucy stopped him with an arm blocking his path. "Calm down Daisuki-chan, I'm sure they've had some tasks to do too. They're just done before us." She tried to reason with him, though she was pretty sure they'd been sitting long enough for their shadows to go from right to left.

Nijimura, tired of having to wait for all his underclassmen getting done complaining, took the initiative to go to the two coaches. "I'm sorry to interrupt." He said politely, getting the attention of two sets of slightly guilty eyes. "We've cleaned the kitchen, bathrooms, baths and our own rooms." He stated. "Is there anything else you want us to do?" He then asked.

The last question sent everyone into simultaneous sighs and groans. It was an unwritten law that you never asked the teachers or coaches if there was anything else you could do. Because there almost always was!

"Ah, Nijimura." Kozo greeted the captain of the team. "If you're done, let's just call it a day, it's getting quite late." He said as he looked at the sun, which would dive under the surface of the water within the next few hours.

Nijimura nodded and thanked him as the entire team breathed out, relieved they were finally off duty.

Before he left though, Sanada also had something to say. "If you're going to that festival, make sure to be back and ready here at the entrance when the bus arrives at eight." He told them all sharply.

"At eight…?" The blonde girl repeated incredulously. "It's like.. What? Half past four now?" She asked no one in particular.

The Shirogane looked down at his watch and nodded. "Add a quarter to that and it's exactly right." He confirmed.

"Three hours, guys! Let's go!" The blonde cried and began running over the sand, towards the tourist area they'd run to every day of this trip, as that was where it was held. She kept her pace fair so that that everyone could follow it, which they also did, Haizaki and Momoi included.

And as was the goal of running rather than walking, they soon reached the tourist area, where they sped down to catch their breaths, walking into the nice and welcoming collection of stands. From wooden stand to wooden stand, homemade paper-lanterns hung on a string lighting up the streets and people there, bathing everything in a warm glow of light.

Though there were not so incredibly many stands they couldn't find heads and tails in them, there was still more than enough to entertain them for three hours.

Naturally, everyone began splitting into groups. Those being made as follows:

First was Murasakibara, who immediately went for one of the food stands. And as Kise found himself quite hungry as well, he quickly followed the big guy.

Next up was Haizaki. Now, you might have guessed it, but as soon as the first, young flock of teenage-girls passed him by, he was already drooling and following them like some stalker. Of course, Nijimura wouldn't let him walk by himself, so he followed him, to make sure he wouldn't do something abnormally stupid.

Then there were Akashi and Midorima and being the inseparable pair they already were, those two went with each other.

And then the most important pair - in the blonde's opinion anyway - Kuroko and Momoi. See, Kuroko had probably originally been about to just go off on his own, but Momoi had quickly made that impossible as she followed her little, newfound crush.

Which left her with Aomine. Who was about to follow her new favorite couple. It even beat Erza and Jellal. Okay, maybe not entirely, but they were at least equal.

She quickly stopped the taller guy from getting any further with a grip on his shoulder, probably a little more forceful than it had to be. "Don't you even dare." She said, her eyes gleaming with joy as the two got further away from them.

Aomine turned to her, clearly annoyed with her. "Oi, I want to walk around with Tetsu." He told her and tried to shake her hand off.

Well, that was until he felt a malicious atmosphere radiating from her and her now tightened grip. "Don't. You. Even. _Dare_." She warned him dangerously.

When he looked at her and the black aura around her as well as the glowing, red eyes, which were directed him, his blood froze to ice. "R-right! I-I won't!" He promised her shakily. There was no telling with that one after all.

In a moment's notice, the black and malicious aura disappeared from her, as if it hadn't ever been there in the first place, and she smiled happily and innocently smiled him. "That's a good boy." She said and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's watch over them and make sure nothing bad happens!" She said excitedly as she pulled him after her.

He sighed as e followed her willingly rather than having her drag him along - which he knew she would. "So you want to spy on them?" He asked her exasperatedly.

She shushed him hurriedly. "Shh! They can't notice us!" She told him with a low voice as they sneaked after the brightly hair-colored duo.

"Right, right." He relented and tried his 'best' to hide from his two friends, who were apparently on an unofficial date, whether they knew it or not.

Feeling like a professional spy, Lucy pulled her younger friend after her as she expertly hid the both of them from her other two young friends. Though she hadn't done many missions where they sneaked around the enemy - mainly because of her team's straightforward and destructive nature - she still had gotten some ideas of how to do it.

And now, she efficiently put those bright ideas to use.

"Look! What are they doing over there?" She whisper-asked him, watching as the two still young kids approached their first stand together.

Aomine sighed tiredly, thoroughly bored with the sneaking around and spying on those two. "Probably buying something to eat." He said and as if on cue, his stomach rumbled. "Like normal people." He added.

"Shh!" The blonde scolded him with a low voice. "Didn't I tell you to be quiet?" She berated him.

He looked at her incredulously. "But you started speaking." He said, only to be shushed again. "Damn hypocritical woman." He grumbled.

When the two moved on to the next stand, Lucy ran to the one they'd just been at, curious to see what it was.

As Aomine had predicted, it was indeed food, small, strange balls packed in a little box with something over them. They looked delicious. "Excuse me, what do you want for a box of these?" She asked the man behind the disk. Fortunately she'd gotten some money from Kozo a while ago, in case she came into a situation where they were necessary. Jewels were useless here, after all.

The salesman smiled widely at her. "From a little lady like you? Nothing, it's on the house!" He told her and began packing some newly cooked ones into one of the boxes.

"Really?" She asked him, surprised. And she wasn't even trying to get them for free this time. Earthland's people were either very stingy and mean, or Earth's people were very kind and gracious. Or just extremely perverted, what did she know? He probably thought she was alone.

He nodded and handed her the packed box. "Please, take them." He insisted.

Though trying to look a little reluctant, she took the food and beamed at the man. "Thank you so much!" She said and then returned to Aomine, who was still keeping an eye on the couple, who'd moved further away. She stuck the box all up in his face. "You were hungry, right?" She asked.

Aomine, surprised with the object which suddenly invaded his space and was right under his nose. "What's this?" He asked, taking the box.

"Yours." She simply replied. Honestly, she had no idea what she had just bought beyond that it was food.

With that, he opened his little gift and almost drooled at the sight - probably a side-effect of being hungry. "Damn, takoyaki." He said, clearly happy with what he'd gotten. Oh, that was what it was. He turned to her, having already popped one into his mouth. "You bought this for me?" He asked her with his mouth filled to the brim with food.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her as they resumed their hunt after their friends. "Well, I would have if my beautiful looks hadn't gotten it for me for free." She said and flipped her hair for extra added effect.

The blue haired boy faked being about to spit his food out in laughter. "You? Beautiful looks? Pfft, good one!" He laughed. Lucy scowled at him and then pointedly took one of the takoyaki balls, popping it into her mouth before he could do anything. "Oi, what the hell?!" He asked her loudly.

She shrugged. "Well, I got them, so they're technically mine." She grinned as she swallowed the food demonstratively.

Aomine glared at her. "Damn woman." He grunted, making sure his takoyaki was as far away from her as possible without making him look like an absolute idiot.

She threw and arm around his shoulders, though it was slightly awkward with their height difference, and side-hugged him. "Oh please, Daisuki-chan, you know you love me." She said with a smile.

"Right, no doubt about that." He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes with a smile he tried to hide as he shook her arm off his shoulder.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt an arm around her waist, which definitely wasn't Aomine's, both seeing as it was much bigger and came from the opposite side. A strong smell of cigarettes and alcohol washed over her. "Well, beautiful lady, if you can't find any love from that kid there, I'm more than willing to offer you some." An adult, drunk man told her with a rough voice as his companions laughed behind him.

She wrinkled her nose as his disgusting breath filled her nostrils. "Thank you for the offer sir, but no thank you." She declined his 'kind' offer, while doing her best not to gag.

He leaned in uncomfortably close. "That boy can't offer anything worthy of a woman like you." He told her. "We men on the other hand…" He trailed off and gestured to himself and his two friends.

She shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to decline." She said as politely as she could manage. She really hated these situations, especially when they were drunk. She tried to pry his arm off her, but he only tightened his grip.

The man pouted and gave her a little push. "Oh, come on now, gorgeous. You know you want it." He said, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Oi, asshole!" Aomine growled at him with a very pissed tone, much angrier than Lucy had ever heard the otherwise cheerful guy sound. "You got a no, leave her alone." He said, placing himself in front of the man threateningly.

Who just laughed at him. "Oh, trying to be a tough guy over there?" He asked him sarcastically, straightening his back so he came to stand at his full height. Which was right about Murasakibara's height. "What can a tiny shrimp like you do to men like us?" He responded just as threateningly.

Aomine stepped forward, going all the way up in the other guy's face. "Why don't we find out, dumbass?" He suggested.

This was when she interfered. These men, just one of them, would beat her friend easily. They were grown, muscular - though she'd seen worse _cough_ Elfman _cough_ \- and looked like they'd been in fights before. He had no chance.

She put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back. "Aomine, please let me handle this." She asked of him, dropping the nickname given the situation. It'd probably only make it worse. She knew she could take these guys - to hell with her secret if it meant sparing her friend from harm. If she really had to, she'd even use her magic. Though she doubted that'd be necessary.

The drunkard laughed. "Yeah, listed to her and let the grown-ups speak, boy. Run off and play in the sand with the rest of your gang." He mocked the blue haired teen.

Who, of course, let the words work him up, aggressive and hot-headed as he was. "What'd ya say, bastard?!" He yelled right up in his face, beyond outraged ad more than ready to throw a punch.

Once again, the man laughed. "That's right, boy, get angry." He taunted him. "And watch what I'll do to your lady-friend." He continued, letting his hand travel places, though she smacked it away.

That didn't matter though, it'd had its effect. More infuriated than before, as this seemed to have hit every button fueling Aomine's anger, he began charging at the man with his fist raised. " _BASTARD!_ " He yelled as he flew at him.

With a little nod of his head, the two others caught Aomine mid-air and slammed him back to the ground roughly and definitely not without hurting him.

This made something click in the blonde and made her see red as she ducked under the disgusting creep's arm without even the slightest hint of effort as she then began charging at his underlings. She slammed their heads together with no hesitancy, which took care of them, more or less. But to finish it off properly, she also made sure to trip them both so that they would hit the ground with the back of their heads - as the had caused Aomine to just a moment ago.

Not slowing down, she went to the leader of the three and gave him a powerful punch in his stomach. All of the air in his lungs left in one burst and left them empty as he gasped after air. But unable to grasp any, he fell to his knees and gave the blonde the perfect opportunity to deliver a kick to his face, which she didn't pass up.

As the man crashed to the ground with a bloody nose, she lightly pressed down on his crotch with her foot, feeling the adrenaline pump around in her. "You can do whatever you want to me, I don't care." She growled at him, making him grunt in pain as she lowered her foot just a little more. "But if you even so much as _touch_ my friends." She said, stepping down more, making him whine like a baby. She didn't care though, rather, something in her liked this sensation of superiority. "I. Will. _End._ You." She snarled at him, pronouncing every world clearly and pressing down harder on his most sensitive area with each one, making him howl in pain in the end.

Luckily he'd drawn hem away from the crowd somewhere along the way.

When she felt a hand carefully trying to pulled her away from the victim of her rage, she whipped around to see Aomine with a slightly pale and almost scared expression. "Lucy… It's all right now." He said slowly, still only carefully pulling her, as if he was afraid she'd bite his head off if provoked. "He got the message."

Lucy, suddenly not caring the slightest about the man on the ground, looked worriedly at her friend, her anger gone. "Are you all right? Does your head hurt?" She asked him. "Damn it, if only Wendy was here." She mumbled to herself, not quite loud enough for him to hear her.

As if on reflex, he reached up to the back of his head. "Oh, this? It's nothing, I'm fine!" He reassured her with a ghost of his usual smile.

Not quite believing him, she turned him around quite forcefully and inspected his head herself. "Seems to only be a bump." She stated, actually surprised he wasn't even bleeding or anything. "You were lucky." She told him with a smile.

"These guys sure weren't though." He commented, looking all around at the whining or unconscious men on the ground.

Only now, she realized they were still on the crime scene, so she grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her out on the lively streets again. "No, I guess they weren't." She agreed.

Out of nowhere, he began chuckling. "Haizaki shoulda seen that! Maybe that'd get him off your back." He said with a bright, amused grin.

Lucy almost froze mid-step. "Uhh… Yeah." She said and faced her friend. "Listen, Aomine. I'd really appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about that." She slowly said.

His made him look at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Why? What's wrong with that back there?" He asked her confusedly. "You were awesome!"

She smiled a little. "Well, thank you I guess." She said. "But I want it secret because… Well, it's not so 'ladylike', you know?" She tried to reason with him. In truth it was because she was worried they should find out where she really came from, or simply become suspicious of her.

"Aww, man… What a shame." Aomine grumbled.

"If you really want to tell someone about it, tell Nijimura or Kozo." She told him and ignored the confused expression he sent her way. "Come on! We need to find Kuro-kun and Sat-chan again! We might already have missed out on something juicy" She said and set into motion, not quite wanting to talk about the other topic anymore.

 **Later~**

It hadn't taken long finding the couple, as they could just go after Momoi's pink hair in the crowd. They'd found them in front of a stand, where they had to get goldfish up from the tank with some kind of very fragile net. Though they had three tries each, it seemed they didn't get any goldfishes at all.

Continuing to follow the two, small people, Aomine and Lucy kept themselves out of their reach to the best of their ability.

Lucy watched with eager happiness as Kuroko leaned in to say something to Momoi, something they of course couldn't hear, though they wanted to. When the boy had said what he needed to, it left the pinkette laughing. He pointed in to the right, she nodded, and then he went that way, probably to go to the toilets. Satsuki stood nicely and waited for him to return.

"You don't have to hide, guys." They suddenly heard a voice say behind them. They gasped, their hearts skipping a beat in shock as they whipped around to see who had spoken to them. Of course it was none other than Kuroko himself. Of course he'd used his lack of presence to sneak behind them like that.

"Tell that to her." Aomine said, pointing in Lucy's direction with his thumb, pushing all the blame on her.

She crossed her arms and glared at him, then turned to Kuroko. "Well, _I_ didn't want to interrupt you two, and I knew no matter what, Aomine'd be a burden, so I simply just spared you from that." She said.

Aomine looked at her with a challengingly raised brow. "Oh? _I'm_ a burden? Just who of the two of us was it that came into trouble, huh?" He reminded her.

"Who saved your ass from said trouble, huh?" She shot back at him, making him grumble angrily and look away with crossed arms. "Anyway." She said with her usual smile, turning to Kuroko again. "When did you notice us?" She asked him.

"Right from the beginning." He simply replied.

She looked at him incredulously. "Then why first now…?" She trailed off.

"Because you disappeared for some time, and I thought it was funny." He said with no change in his voice. Kind of like how Virgo did. She didn't know Kuroko had something like that

"Uhh… Guys." Momoi said behind them, making all of them turn to her. "I just remembered something… The time!" She said.

"The time..?" Aomine repeated, not understanding what she meant. Then it clicked. "Oh! The time!" He said. "What's the clock?" He continued to ask them, though no one knew.

Lucy reached out to the first guy who walked past them. "Uh, excuse me, sir." She said, getting his attention. "Could you tell us what the clock is?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Of course." He said and looked at his watch. "It's 19:40." He told them with a smile.

She returned the smile. "Thank you very much!" Then she ran over to Momoi, hauled the girl up on her back while Aomine did the same with Kuroko, and both pairs began running through the many people, who luckily parted to let them through easily. No communication was needed, it was obvious to all they were late.

Lucy and Aomine ran with all their might with the their two friends on their backs, which was quick as it was asphalt, out of the very crowded festival-area and out on the sand again. Although their pace fell when they came out on the softer surface, they still went considerably fast - the pace they went during training, maybe a little faster.

So after about 40 minutes of silent running, they finally reached the building, where they set off their two passengers, fighting death itself.

"Uhm…" Momoi said, watching the two dying rides. "What if you just go to the entrance, then we'll get your baggage as well?" She suggested.

"Can you.. Carry… All that?" Lucy asked, huffing after air as she tried to speak.

Momoi and Kuroko both nodded. "Yeah, that won't be a problem." She reassured them. To which Kuroko agreed with a nod. "It's the least we can do." She added.

Lucy nodded as well. "All right… that'd be.. really nice." She said, her breath calming down slowly again. She straightened her back and pushed Aomine's, going towards the building. "Come on.. Daisuki-chan… Let's die by the entrance." She suggested.

Aomine nodded and the two barely made it forward and out in time to reach the bus. Though the four of them got a scolding from Sanada, Kozo complimented Lucy and especially Aomine for running with the other two so far and even making it in time for the bus, and then it went home from their week-long, little trip.

 **All right! This one has an appropriate length** _ **and**_ **came out at the right point in time! Please give me a round of applause XD  
I hope I will be able to post somewhat regularly this summer vacation, but it may be a bit bumpy with possible trips to Italy and other stuff. I'll warn you if anything comes up though!**

 **Hope you liked this chapter! Thought the boy needed a day of rest and having some 'fun'. Though you can discuss how 'fun' and 'relaxing' cleaning and getting attacked is, but y'know. It's not training.**

 **Thank you to all who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed! Appreciate it more than you know! Though I might be veeeeery slow at replying… ^-^"**

 **~Line464d**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 **Warning: hasn't been proofread in the slightest :/  
Ah, gotten to this chapter already… I really have a bad habit of building the plot up without progressing much.. XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Sowwyy only the plot of this is actually mine**

 **Earthland~**

Lucy sat up with a jolt. Last thing she remembered was sitting in Kozo's car, on the way back to his place, when she finally fell asleep after a whole week without any at all.

But she definitely wasn't in the car now. The lack of the comfortable rumble of the motor and that her seat was unmoving and hard gave it away.

For a moment, her confusion seemed to blur her surroundings, confusing her even further. "Where am I…?" She asked herself out loud slowly as she tried to figure her location out.

"You're in the guild of course!" She heard the familiar voice of the Fire Dragon Slayer say right next to her. As she turned to him, he continued. "Where else could you be? You're strange, Luce." He grinned.

Happy, who was on Natsu's shoulder, put his paw to his mouth and blew his cheeks up as if he was about to burst into laughter. "Lushy's stupid!" He laughed.

The blonde paid the Exceed no mind as she once again looked at everything around her. "The guild?" She repeated. Now he said it, she could, of course, also recognize what she saw. Now… Why was she here?

"Aah!" Natsu suddenly burst out. "Luce's lost her memory! We hit her too hard!" He panicked, running around in circles while Happy circled around the other way above him.

"It's called 'amnesia', idiot, and she couldn't have, she clearly recognizes you and the guild now." She heard the voice of the other male on her team say.

Looking around, she found the entire guild looking towards her, as if expecting something. Why couldn't she remember the circumstances before the trip? Well, it was to be expected she'd forget something after seven days and nights, but _everything_?

"You're both idiots." Her personal demon told the both of them. "She wouldn't get amnesia for something so stupidly weak, I trained her to be stronger than that." He said.

Lucy sighed, realizing she probably wouldn't find an answer to her question by herself, and the guy would probably start a brawl if no one stopped them. "Sorry guys." She said as she got up from the floor, it felt slightly awkward being down there after all… "But can anyone tell me what happened just before I passed out?" She asked, rubbing her head. Maybe they'd all held a party. That would explain the memory loss.

That made all four of them look weirdly at her. "You really don't remember, Bunny Girl?" Gajeel was the first to ask.

She looked at the Iron Slayer with a raised brow. "If I remember, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?" She reminded him.

He grunted in response to her words. "But it's only five minutes ago…" Gray trailed off, having taken over for Gajeel.

Lucy stared at the Ice Make mage blankly for a pair of long seconds. "FIVE MINUTES?!" She yelled incredulously. How? _How?!_

"Yeah, five minutes." Natsu confirmed confusedly. "Why's that so hard to believe?" He asked. "We didn't hit you that hard…" He trailed off.

Lucy glared at him. "Hit me?" She asked suspiciously. Then, as if Kuroko had thrown a basketball at her rather than Aomine, she remembered.

 **5 minutes ago~**

 _"Oi, Ice Princess! Don't' go spreading lies you bastard!" Natsu shouted at his rival, who was telling Juvia about how he won the basketball tournament they'd held earlier - they often did that as it let everyone participate - which he, according to Natsu, hadn't won. Quite on the contrary… "You didn't win a damn thing, loser!" The Fire Dragon Slayer stated._

 _Gray glared at him. "Now who's lying, you damn hypocrite!" He responded. "I won against_ you _, ash for brains." He reminded his foe._

 _Natsu growled at him. "Like hell you did!_ I _won against_ you, _dumbass!" He shot back at him._

 _"You're both idiots!" Gajeel said from the seat he was sitting in. "None of_ you _won,_ I _did!" He said with a grin and his certain giggle._

 _The air around Natsu and Gray respectively heated up or began freezing, a sure sign of the both of them being ready to start a full-blown brawl right then and there in the middle of the hall._

 _So, without any sort of signal, they both started charging at the Iron Slayer. "Lying bastard!" Natsu growled as both of them threw their fists forward to hit Gajeel straight in the face._

 _"Tch." The target snorted. "As if such a weak attack would ever hit me." He grunted before easily dodging their united attack._

 _However this, of course, didn't make them stop moving forward in the same second. Which meant they were now headed for Lucy instead, who'd been sitting by the same table as Gajeel, not even registering the brawl which had started up in front of her. It was quite normal for these guys after all._

 _But as she hadn't paid attention to it, it also meant she had no chance of dodging it like the other guy had._

 _"Shit." Gray said, unable to stop himself as hit and his rival's fists crashed into the blonde, hitting her where they had intended to hit Gajeel._

 _Barely able to register what happened, Lucy fell backwards on her chair, blacking out from the sudden pain halfway down._

 **Present~**

"Morons!" She exclaimed before jumping at them. A second later, all three could be seen with big bumps at the back of their heads and her satisfactorily clapping her hands together in a sign of being done and brushed the guys off her.

"But Lushy~" Happy said, gaining her attention as he hovered over the three injured men. "Why were you so surprised it's only been five minutes?" The winged cat asked cutely.

"Oh, right." She said and smiled at the cat. "Because I was at Earth for a whole week in the duration of those five minutes." She explained.

His eyes widened to be even bigger than they usually were. "A whole week?" He asked her, baffled at the revelation. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I guess all seven days were important enough to keep me there." She said nonchalantly.

"B-but seven days…" Happy mumbled to himself.

"Hm." Gajeel said as he got up from where he'd been sitting on the ground. "That explains why you didn't remember it." He said. She nodded.

Gray looked at her skeptically. "So you're telling me that in these five minutes you've been away, you've been at Earth for seven days straight?" He asked her.

She nodded again. "The nights were very long, I tell you." She commented. When they looked strangely at her again, she elaborated. "I don't sleep on Earth, you know?" She reminded him.

Natsu buried his finger in his hair and began messing around with it in confusion. "Ahh! It makes no sense!" He said loudly, almost about it rip all of the hair off his head.

"Tough luck, being an idiot." Gajeel laughed at him. Yes, the fact that Earth and Earthland's timelines were so different and free from each other was weird, but not so much he'd go and do like Natsu was right now.

This made the Fire Dragon Slayer stop whatever he was doing and glare at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "What did'ya say, Metal Freak?!" He asked him loudly.

Before anything could start between them again, the giant hand of their master's landed on top of the heated Slayer's head, smacking him right down to the ground again. "Calm down, Brat." He told his victim, while said victim just grumbled in reply. "Now everyone's here, I have an important message." The old man said. Through he didn't speak particularly loud, his voice carried through the room easily, silencing everyone instantly. "As many of you know the S-class trials will be beginning soon." He announced loudly, his white beard moving with his mouth as he smiled.

Though it was a while ago for her now, she'd noticed they'd been on increasingly many missions at that point and had asked Erza if there was any particular reason for that.

She'd been told it was because the trials were coming up. The redhead then proceeded to explain how both Gray and Natsu had high chances of being chosen to try for the S-class, therefore, to show they were indeed worthy of it, they'd been completing more missions.

So it didn't come as as big a shock as it could have. Instead, she cheered and laughed with everyone else, excited to see who had been nominated to grow in rank.

Makarov clapped his hands together, bringing the noise-level down somewhat. "The nominated are-" He paused, once again gaining complete silence from everyone there as they waited patiently for what he would say. "The nominees are as follows.." He paused dramatically. "Cana Alberona." He started.

The brunette didn't even smile as she lifted up a barrel of booze and began chugging the contents down.

The action, though a little strange, wasn't without reason. Apparently the brunette had attempted the trials quite a few times, always without any luck. This time was… Her 7h time? Naturally after so many times, one's motivation would be lost.

Despite this reaction, he proceeded with his naming of the participants. "Nominee number two is Levy McGarden!" He announced.

While Levy herself was completely silent - probably so surprised she'd been chosen that she was rendered speechless - as team Shadowgear, Droy and Jet, cheered her on.

The guild master simply continued. "Next up is Freed Justine!" He said out loud.

Freed turned to his team and gave them a little smile, which he was returned by both of them. Bickslow with the addition of a tongue and a thumbs up.

"Lisanna Strauss!" Makarov announced, making both of the girl's older siblings smile proudly at their little sister. "And Elfman Strauss!" The guild master added, now making only Mira smile proudly as the other two looked at each other challengingly. "Next is Gray Fullbuster!"

The Ice Make mage put his hands together in the usual pose and let ice cool the air into steam around them. "Hell yeah! This rank is in the bag!" He said confidently, making hearts thump in Juvia's eyes.

"Natsu Dragneel." He announced, almost smiling as Gray groaned at the expected development.

The Fire Dragon Slayer jumped up on one of the tables and spewed fire out of his mouth as if he was a dragon himself. "Yosh!" He yelled loudly, getting knocked down with the blunt side of Erza's sword immediately after.

Still, Makarov continued unaffected by the ruckus in the room. "Last but not least, Mest Gryder!" He announced.

Mest Gryder? Lucy was pretty sure she'd never heard that name before and although she was the newest member, she should know every member by now. Yet, though she knew she'd never seen him before, he just felt familiar and like he really belonged here somehow. Like she'd always known him. It was hard to explain.

"This trial, like the previous ones, requires a partner, of course not someone who is already S-class, so be quick about finding one." He warned them.

He had a very valid point there. It was about choosing a partner who you could work well with but also someone who complements you, both in terms of being able to do what you couldn't and that the magic also could work together.

Gray and Natsu, for example, though their teamwork could be spotless when it was really important, they had a knack for getting into an argument. Besides that, their magic didn't complement each other so much either, seeing as they were basically opposite elements.

So yeah, getting the right partner before said person was taken could possibly be vital for success.

"It will be held in a month, so be sure to use your time preparing for it." He advised them. His somewhat serious expression turned into a goofy smile as he dumped down to sit where he had been standing on the table moments ago. "That's all I had to say.. Now let's party!" he announced loudly, to which he was replied with cheers and yells of agreement.

 **Next day~**

"I still can't believe you're Gildarts' daughter." Lucy mumbled to the girl walking next to her. "I can't imagine him getting a child at all." She trailed off.

Cana smiled lightly. "If I didn't know I was his daughter, I'd have thought the same thing." She said slightly amusedly. "He just doesn't seem like the fatherly type, what with all the missions he's on and that perverse personality of his." She commented.

The blonde contemplated this for a moment. "To be honest, I actually think he could be a great father." She said, thinking back on how he treated especially Natsu that first day she met him. It was almost fatherly. "You won't know until you tell him." She told her friend.

Who returned her with an expression of pure shock and horror. "Did the blonde hair finally reach your brain?!" The brunette exclaimed. "Someone like him wouldn't ever accept someone as weak as me as his daughter."

"Hmm…" The Celestial mage hummed. "I wonder about that." She said with a low voice. "Well, that's why you're going to be training with Gajeel and I!" She said happily, trying to bring the mood up again.

Cana grinned. "Yeah! I'll do it this year for sure! Otherwise I'll give up." She promised the blonde.

See, this was the story she'd been told when she found the drunken Card mage in the tub in her apartment this morning. Cana had always known her father was Gildarts - that's why she chose Fairy Tail - but had never been brave enough to tell him. Cana's mom was one of many he'd given a ride in the cane and he wasn't the type to keep track on them. However the girl hadn't - and still didn't - feel like she was strong enough to be his daughter.

That's why she promised herself that once she became an S-class mage, she would tell him.

Only thing was, that now she had failed so many time, she had lost hope of ever becoming one and alas telling Gildarts the truth he deserved to know. Which was why Lucy would help her win this time!

Soon enough, the two ladies reached the ground on which the blonde and the Iron Dragon Slayer had trained on more or less consequently every day since they had begun. However, it wasn't only Gajeel they found there.

"Gajeel~" Levy whined, collapsing to the ground on her stomach, having been in the middle of a pushup. "Stop being so rough… You're killing me!" She complained as Droy and Jet nodded in agreement by the sidelines.

"Gihi, not really." Gajeel said. "You'd know it if I was trying to kill you, Shrimp." He promised his much smaller and currently tortured 'friend'.

Lucy blinked a few times, trying to process the scene in front of her. "Wha…" She trailed off.

This made the two notice the ladies' presence. "Lu-chaaaaaann! Help me~!" The little bluenette called from the ground, seemingly suffering from the training the blonde had been put through a lot of times now.

Gajeel looked at her with a grin. "Oh, Bunny Girl." He 'greeted' her. "Training's cancelled." He told her.

Lucy looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "What? Why?" She asked him incredulously.

"Cause I'm training the Shrimp. You turned blind?" He asked her teasingly.

"Oh, so you two teamed up for the trial, eh?" Cana asked with a knowing smile. Basically the entire guild except those two knew of the sparks flying between those two. And especially the women were gushing and having fun with it.

Lucy tilted her head. "Well that'd be stupid." She said. This earner her a 'What? Why?' expression from the black haired guy. "Because I know the program as well as you do. Might as well do it together." She said and shrugged.

Levy turned around and looked up at him. "Lu-chan's got a point, Gajeel. Let's just do it together, all four of us." She told him.

Gajeel grunted. "Whatever." He relented, then smirked at the bluenette. "We're starting from the top then." He grinned, making the bluenette burst into complaints as both Lucy and Cana gushed for just a moment before joining them.

 **Later~**

"Ah, that was a good match." Lucy said, wiping sweat from her forehead and catching the orange ball, which was thrown at her.

Natsu, who was steadying himself with a hold on his thighs. "Why… Can I never… Beat you..?" He asked her, trying to catch his breath.

She laughed at him. "It might be because I play it twice as much as you do." She told him. Thinking about the fact that she also played it on Earth, it almost counted as double as much of the game as the others.

"COOOOOOOOOL!" They heard trademark cry of the journalist, Jason, of Sorcerers' Weekly from the sidelines of the court they had just been playing on.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" She asked him confusedly. Was he here to interview someone in the guild? Or was it for Mira? But he had already been here just a pair of days ago - Earthland time.

"I heard from the townsfolk you were playing this coooooooool game! So I came to see for myself!" He told them. "What do you call this?" He asked the Fire Dragon Slayer ecstatically.

"Oi, don't talk to me 'bout this. Talk to Luce, she introduced it!" He said with a bright grin, pointing towards the blonde, who was smiling, though already reeling in her mind, trying to figure out how she could explain how she found the rules and everything.

Jason turned to her, a giant smile on his always beaming face. "Coooooool!" He said, somehow rolling r's on the o. "Miss Lucy, can I have an interview, please? I want to spread this cool game!" He told her.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course." She said and followed him on the outer edge of the sidelines, so they could still watch the games, though without letting it make it impossible to speak together.

 **Here we go~ Setting the plot into motion again!  
I've been wanting for some time for Jason to discover basketball, and now it's done :3 Next question is, what'll it be used for?**

 **Anyway, gotta cut this short, just finished it ._."**

 **Thank you guys, I love all of you, no matter if you review, favorite, follow or just read!**

 **~Line464d**


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

 **Guys, guys. Seems I have confused some of you along the way. Yes, Kise isn't supposed to be a part of the team before the 2** **nd** **year and then be mentored by Kuroko, and Aomine shouldn't be thinking about basketball as he's beginning to, I know that happens later in the manga/anime.  
But, I may have mentioned it before I don't remember, I have twisted things to fit my story better. So don't be thrown off if there are things that don't fit, it's most likely meant to be like that! ^-^**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: You'd be crazy to think I actually made up all of this ._." **

**Earthland~**

"Basketball, the game of Spirits." Lucy read out loud, though in a low voice, to herself. "Recently the strongest guild, Fairy Tail, has been practicing a strange game! Basketball!" She continued in a mumble. "According to Fairy Tail's Celestial mage, Lucy Heartfilia, the game is created by the very Spirits she summons." She said. Yes, that was what she had come up with at the time. It was pathetic, she knew.

"No matter if you read that shit out loud five times or a hundred times, it is still a damn bad lie, Bunny Girl." Gajeel grunted at her. "Now put that piece of asswipe away and let me sleep." He growled at her, thoroughly annoyed with her constant reading it out loud.

She didn't even look up at him as she checked the box at the bottom of the article in which the rules were written to see if they had missed anything. "You're just angry because of your motion sickness." She replied in a tone that implied she didn't care the least for his opinion. It looked like Jason had gotten the most important rules down, the rest were explained in the article.

The Iron Dragon groaned when the ship they were currently on began rocking from side a side as a bigger wave must have hit it. "Fuck you, ship." He complained rudely.

The blonde sighed. "You do realize it isn't the ship's fault, right?" She asked him, still not looking up.

Even without looking, she could still feel the burning holes at the side of her head at which the moron was glaring. "You do realize that shit is four weeks old, right?" He shot back at her.

"Of course I do." She reassured him and gestured to the other three releases of Sorcerer's Weekly she'd brought along. "I also know over 30% of Fiore's population are playing basketball. Those mainly being other guilds." She told him, finally looking up at him with a confident smirk. She knew that both from the articles she'd read about it and from the fact that the guild was selling basketballs as the only ones at this point in time. "Currently they are probably learning alongside the Lacrima video I recorded three days ago." She said.

He looked at her with an empty expression. "Are you kidding me?" He asked her almost sarcastically. "Did you seriously make a video for all of them?" He asked her unbelievingly.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I did." She confirmed. "It's a tutorial where I go through the rules and basics of playing the game." She explained, proud of the work she had done.

"That's stupid." He grunted. "What makes you think they'll even watch your rotten video?" He asked her, irritated with life, it seemed. The motion sickness was clearly making him moody and temperamental. Like a hormonal teenage girl hit by puperty.

"Two reasons." She said, holding up two fingers. "First off, the video was requested." She told him, putting the first finger down.

It was just about a week ago a group of people from another guild came up, looking for her, and asked for some help with the game. Of course, she accepted, they learned a lot and it was fun, but then when it was over, they still felt they needed more. Alas, she created that video tutorial.

"Second." She said, keeping eye contact with the grumpy Dragon Slayer the entire time. "It's the only one out there." She reasoned. It was literally their only option if they truly wanted to learn basketball. Visuals were important.

He grunted exasperatedly. "Whatever. It's not like it'll be useful for this damn trial." He grumbled. Which was the reason why he was on the ship in the first place, suffering as he fought against his breakfast from coming up again.

The month they'd had to train and prepare for the trials had already passed and they were now headed for the guild's personal island, Tenrou, where the trials often were held.

It had been fun, having Levy and Cana join the training made it more fun since she wasn't alone with that demon of a Dragon Slayer. Of course, in the beginning, the two girls had a tough time keeping up with their pace, but gradually they managed to catch up and not die afterwards.

Speaking of success, during the month of preparation, the Teiko boys had gone to the nationals for Middle Schools in the Tokyo area. And had won each and every match. Some were harder than others, but generally it was clear for everyone to see her boys were more skilled than the others their age.

It had been a while since they had played against Ryoma Middle School, and back then they had been more or less equally matched, but now it was an entirely different story. She hadn't even noticed the huge difference in their skill level, but now it was compared like that, it was blatantly obvious. Her boys had really advanced.

Especially Aomine displayed a lot of skill and determination to win. Every time he got the ball, he blasted right through any and all defenses with his quick and wild movements, and then topped it off with one goal after another. But it wasn't just him, of course, the others won the games right alongside him. It made her happy to see how they all just excelled at the game they so obviously loved.

"Hey! Lucy!" She heard someone call right into her ear. "Anyone home in there?" The person asked and lightly knocked on her head as if it was a door.

She shook her thoughts off and turned to Gray, who had been the one who made her break out of them, with a little, playful glare. "That's rude, idiot. And yes, there is." She confirmed for him.

He rolled his eyes at her slightly scolding tone and nodded towards the front of the deck. "Good, 'cause Gramps is about to say something." He told her and turned his undivided attention to the old man, who looked just about ready to say something very important.

Following the Ice Make mage's footsteps, she also looked up at him. "Brats! Listen up!" He called from where he stood in front of them all with much more clothes than any of them could handle at the moment - a loose vacation-shirt and a pair of shorts.

For some strange reason, the sun just seemed to shine much harder and its rays much more merciless as its beat down on all of them. This was why everyone was dressed in either trunks or bikinis. Still they were dying from the rough weather.

Somehow though, their guild master wasn't dying like the rest of them. "We're close to Tenrou now, so I will be explaining the first part of the trials." He announced, looking out over all his 'children'. "When you reach the island, you will find eight different routes each marked with a letter going from a to h." He explained. "Of course, each pair will take a route, but only one pair per route." He said.

Though the way he spoke gave no hints of it the whole thing was a race. It was obvious the pair who came through first were 'the strongest'. Obviously they'd also be some sort of obstacle on each of these routes.

Makarov continued. "As some of you might have expected, there will be obstacles, test, you will need to pass." He confirmed Lucy's thoughts. "On three of the routes, there will be placed one of our S-class mages - Erza, Mira Jane and Gildarts." He told them.

They were probably already at the island, seeing as neither of them were on this ship. And it would explain why she hadn't seen especially the two girls around the guild recently.

"You will have to either beat, bypass or be deemed ready to continue by them, to be allowed to continue." He said.

That was logical enough. Though she was curious as to what exactly was required for the S-classes to just pass them. It was probably different from mage to mage. Still though, she kind of didn't want to get one of their routes. Like a lot.

"Next, there is the possibility you will be pitted against another pair where two routes are connected." He explained. "There are two of these situations, four routes in which this is the obstacle. To pass this, you will, of course, have to defeat the other pair in battle." He told them all, every single one of them silent as they listened with rapt attention.

Those were interesting. Depending on the pair, that could either go good or bad. Though it all honesty, her own offensive power had gone down with Loke deciding to help Gray out and be his partner. It was apparently something they had decided long ago when no one knew what he really was. Of course, though it meant less firepower for her, she was completely fine with it. A promise was a promise.

Lastly, there will be one route on which that single pair will go free." The guild master said, surprising all of them. "There will be no obstacle the pair will pass 'for free'." He said.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows confusedly at the information. That made no sense to her at all. The S-class trials were all about proving that you were fit to go a rank up, and the obstacles put on the other routes made sure that was exactly what they'd do, prove their strength. But that wasn't possible on that one free route, you'd just get a free pass to continue on without proving anything.

That didn't mean it wasn't her favorite route though, it certainly was. And looking at Cana, the brunette agreed.

The old man spread his arms out and smiled widely. "Let the S-class trials begin!" He announced and disappeared with a poof.

Time to bring the A-game.

 **Later~**

Things had escalated since the beginning of the trials. And they had escalated a lot. It had started out slowly, everything going 'as it should' - at least in comparison to what happened later on.

Unfortunately, Lucy and Cana had been the last to get to the routes, and as such had no choice in the matter. They hadn't gotten the free route either, Gajeel and Levy got that one, they got up a route in which they were to fight against Freed and Bickslow. Against all expectations, they actually beat those two.

Moving on, the next round was about finding the grave of the first guild master, Mavis Vermillion, which was on Tenrou island. Still, things were as they were supposed to be.

But then it also went wrong and the meaning of the words Gajeel once said 'being in the strongest guild means being in the center of trouble' really came true.

Why? Well, maybe because one of the three most dangerous, dark guilds - two with Oración Seis down perhaps - Grimoire Heart, decided it was about time they got a hold of Zeref, who'd been roaming around on Tenrou. He was supposed to be the darkest, most evil mage in all of time. And, obviously, he was also immortal.

In their search for him, Fairy Tail were in the way, alas they were to be eliminated first. Fairy Tail in the middle of something that had nothing to do with them. Forgetting the fact that their guild master was their previous guild master, Precht Gaebolg then, now Hades. And powerful.

When everything seemed dark fighting Hades and they were at the brink of losing, appearing as a bolt of lightning, Laxus came and began battling with Hades, while everyone was crawling around on the ground. Though he didn't last for long, he made Natsu able to use Lightning Fire Dragon Slayer mode, which in the end resulted in him overpowering the previous guild master of Fairy Tail.

And as if that wasn't crazy enough, which it was, suddenly, there was a dragon in the horizon, roaring loudly above them. Of course, it was right in the middle of Cana and Gildarts finally bonding as father and daughter, but such was the life of Fairy Tail.

"Is everyone okay?!" Lucy yelled as she, Cana, Gildarts, Natsu and Happy were running towards everyone else, who were at the camp they had set up earlier. As Gildarts mumbled something to himself about it being 'from that time', a dark shadow covered them all as it blocked the sun. Looking up, one big silhouette covered them. "A real-life Dragon.." She mumbled, in shock, as she looked up at the thing above her. It was much, much bigger than she expected it to be… Much more terrifying.

"I knew it.." Natsu said to himself, looking up at the monster above him, sweat forming on his whole face. "Dragons really do exist…" He muttered.

Makarov, as frozen as all as his children at the turn of events, spoke up with terror in his voice. "The black dragon of the apocalypse…" He trailed off dramatically. "Acnologia." Where had she heard of that name before…

Natsu raised his fist as he looked at the dragon. "You! Over there!" He yelled at it. "You know where Igneel is now, don't you?!" He roared at it shamelessly. "And Grandine and Metallicana too!" He continued.

"Knock it off, Natsu!" Gildarts almost growled at him. But it was already too late, somehow that had drawn its attention and now it was charging at them fiercely. With a speed rivalling Jet's, the big, black dragon charged at them, ramming into the ground right before them. As the dust cleared, there was the dragon, roaring its anger out for a moment, before it just towered above them menacingly. It gave them a moment for the fear to really manifest in them, before it shot into the air once again with one powerful flap of its wings. "RUN FOR IT!" Gildarts yelled at them all.

And though they did, Acnologia had already set its aim on them. With another beat of its wings, it shot forward again, going down towards the ground again, chasing all the small humans, who were trying to run away from it. When it was about to crash directly into the ground, it pushed its wings down once, correct its direction.

With that single movement, a gigantic crater appeared under it, destroying everything in a radius of ten meters, just to show off its strength. Even if they weren't in the range of the destruction, the wind that came after that made many stumble and fly with it.

"Look at the destruction it caused!" Levy screeched, staring back at the gigantic crater in pure terror.

"HURRY TO THE SHIP!" Gildarts roared, making the bluenette focus on getting away from the source of the destructions once again instead of admiring it.

"RUN!" Erza called, pointing forward, where the ship was lying in wait for them. "Everyone we're all going back together! TO FAIRY TAIL!" She yelled, spurring everyone to move even faster even despite all the injuries they had from previous battles.

"Wendy! You can talk to dragons, can't you?!" Carla asked her Dragon Slayer as they both charged forward, literally running for their lives. "Can't you do something about this?!" The white Exceed pressed on.

Wendy looked down at her friend apologetically. "I can't talk to it! Dragons all have very high levels of intelligence!" She explained. "That dragon should definitely be able to understand words!" She replied.

Smashing and crashing everything in its way, the black dragon continued to pursue them as if it was nothing more than a game to it. It was clear that if it wanted to, it could catch up to and eat all of them at any moment. Destroy them with the slightest flick of its tail.

Suddenly, their master stopped up with his arms spread out to his sides, as if his little, frail body could stop the humongous dragon coming towards them. Which gradually became more realistic as he grew in size, ending up to become the size of the dragon. "Run, get to the ship." He said somewhat calmly, though with a hidden anger in his words. With a crash, he caught the Dragon around its neck, stopping it in its tracks. Now whoever won was the one with the most power, like a tug of war.

"It's useless! There is no way he can fight that!" Gray yelled, carrying an injured Juvia over his shoulder.

"RUN!" Their master told them as the injury he'd gotten on his back reopened again and spurted blood out through the bandages.

"If you are going to pick a fight with it, we're coming too!" Freed promised him, starting to run the other way with his hand on the hilt of his sword, Bickslow and Evergreen following him.

"Let's smash that thing to pieces!" Bickslow yelled in agreement.

This made Makarov turn around to them with a pissed expression. "DO YOU PLAN ON DISOBEYING YOUR MASTERS FINAL ORDERS?!" He bellowed at them. "YOU SHITTY BRATS!"

The word final kept repeating in everyone's minds, except one. "I'M A DRAGON SLAYER!" Natsu roared right back at him. "If anyone's going to be that thing's opponent, it's gonna be- ARGH!" He choked as Laxus grabbed his scarf and pulled him away from the master, towards the ship.

"We are getting out of here Natsu!" He told the Fire Dragon Slayers. Though he was trying to act cool, he was shaking all over with emotions.

However his action worked the way the master had wanted, everyone restarted their charge back to the ship once again, leaving the old man back against the black dragon alone. "I don't know what you're after but… I won't let you pass any further ahead!" He promised the dragon as he fought against its power with all his might. "Because behind me are all my little brats!" He yelled at it. Its only response was growling at him in irritation.

Getting annoyed with not getting anywhere, Acnologia put more force behind his pushing against Makarov and with that made him tumble backwards with blood spouting out of his mouth with his internal wounds reopening right alongside his external. It pushed him down with its clawed foot and kept him there as it roared right into his face, not letting him doubt who was in charge.

Despite his less than desirable situation Makarov smiled. For the first time he had finally acted like a real parent. He had no more regrets, protecting all his children. He could die in peace, knowing they were safe.

Just as those thoughts had run through his head, a small pair of legs with white, loose pants ran past him and much to his fright began crawling up Acnologia's front leg. That person was, of course, Natsu, beaten and battered as he was.

Though the dragon tried shaking him off, the Fire Dragon Slayer clung to it like glue, even continuing to hike his way up the mountain of a beast. "Give our old man back…!" He told the dragon as the 'old man' looked up at him with a moved, though surprised, expression.

Fully armored, Erza pointed forward with one of her many swords. "CHAAAAARGE!" She called and set every single Fairy Tail member charged at the dragon, blasting it with their magic all they were able.

Behind was the now shrunk, old man in his natural size, shaking with all the emotions going through him as well as the exhaustion washing over him after the tug of war. He could only stare at the suicide mission his brats had thrown themselves into. And it was just for him. "Y… You little.." He said, not even able to muster any sort of voice.

His grandson came to a stop next to him. "I want you to know I was against this." He reassured his old man. "But do you really think they're the kind of people who can run away and leave an old geezer behind?" He asked him rhetorically. Both of them already knew the answer to that. "It's your guild after all."

With tears stinging in his eyes, the old man looked proudly at all the brats who had come to his rescue. "You idiots.." He told them. Despite saying that and actually meaning it, he was still proud of them. This was exactly the young people he wanted them to become, someone who'd protect their precious ones even if it meant the loss of their own lives.

Suddenly the apocalyptic dragon pushed off the ground and began flying up there. Gajeel immediately recognized what it was about to do. "It's a breath attack!" He warned all of them as he saw it breathing in the way he himself had done quite often.

"Is it planning on blasting the whole island away?!" Cana asked incredulously. Knowing the power of their Dragon Slayers' breath attacks, this one, which was so, so many levels above that, would make Tenrou island nothing more than a whole in the middle of the ocean.

"Everyone who can use defensive magic, put the power you've got into it now!" Erza immediately ordered, always clear of mind in situations like these.

"There's not enough time to draw the seals…!" Freed said. His one true strength, and he didn't have the power to do it.

"There's plenty of defensive magic that does not require writing symbols or seals!" Levy reminded him.

Lisanna and Mira, getting the idea the bluenette was trying to convey, spread the message. "Everyone! Focus all your magical energy on Freed!" Lisanna called out as the sisters locked hands and continued to reach out to the closest person. "Let's join hands!" She continued.

"We can't let it end here!" Natsu yelled with a fire in his voice as he grabbed Lisanna's hand.

"Okay! We'll never give up!" Lucy agreed, grabbing Natsu's hand.

"Everyone join your power together as one! Let's show it the bonds of our guild!" Gray called out as he locked hands with Lucy.

The final person, Makarov, took a hold of the hand Laxus offered and completed the circle. "Let's all go home to Fairy Tail, together…" He said with tears running down his cheeks and a proud smile on his face.

Everyone channeling their magic into the next person sent it all the way down to the green haired mage. Their magic merged well together and a bright, golden light appeared all around them, growing in size quickly. Suddenly in an explosion of light, they were blinded for a second before everything went black.

Lucy's last thought was how she should explain everything to the basketball team when she came there.

 **Aaaall right! Short chapter, but with a dramatic ending!**

 **Without me noticing at all, we've reached all of 270 reviews, 150 reviews and are only two people away from 170 followers! You guys seriously rock!**

 **So this chapter is definitely a checkpoint for this story, a milestone! Won't spoil anything, but you will know what I mean next chapter! Ahh, it's going to be good. Probably XD**

 **Anyway, I hope many of you have seen Watamote, 'cause otherwise you know what you're gonna do. Especially because Kuroko no Basuke was referenced in one of the episodes :3 I might've actually squealed a little when I realized that, but no one'll know. Except the whole world now. Details, details.**

 **So, as always, thanks to all of you! For favoriting, following, reviewing and obviously reading! I can't explain how much it means to me!**

 **~Line464d**


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

 **The long awaited chapter, eh? :3  
And it's my 18** **th** **b-day tomorrow too~ ^-^**

 **I got soooo many reviews previous chapter. I guess that means I got something right back then?  
I hope I can do that this time as well!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yup, no, I don't own either one**

 **Earth~**

"I still can't believe a little, muscleless squirt like him can play basketball." Grunted a tall, dark skinned man with short, coal black hair that had two very thin, hairless lines on each side of his head. He himself was a very muscular man and a year older than the 'squirt', who was currently talking with their coach.

"Of course he is! Otherwise he wouldn't be our captain!" Reasoned a smaller blonde guy with short hair and dark green eyes. As he smiled widely, his single sharp snaggletooth showed right under his upper lip. Meanwhile he dribbled with the ball constantly and obnoxiously though he was standing still and having a conversation.

"It is still quite impressive though." Said a tall and slender guy with shoulder-length, black, straight hair, whose features were just slightly feminine. "Becoming our captain right after he joins, even though he is still only a first year." He commented.

"It's only because he's one of those damn Miracles." The tall muscular one said rudely. "It's the only reason he got accepted on the team so easily." He added with a pair of huge, crossed arms.

"No." Said the last guy in the little group. He was of average height, had white, spiky hair and a blank expression. "That is the only reason he's the captain and is allowed to decide so much." He explained, having been otherwise silent throughout their little conversation.

The blonde stuck his face all the way up in the white-haired boy's face. "Oh, you still have a voice?" He asked, sounding almost shocked at that fact.

The muscle-mountain rolled his eyes. "Of course he does, moron." He replied exasperatedly, getting thoroughly annoyed with the guy's constant dribbling and annoying voice.

However before it could escalate into anything worse, the captain they had just been talking about a moment before called them over. "Training is about to commence. Take a ball, all of you." The guy ordered though he hardly reached any further up than to the others' shoulders.

Doing as they were told, they each grabbed one of the orange rubber balls and met their captain in the middle of the court, where they then began warming up by running laps around the court, doing all kinds of exercises to warm their bodies up for the rigorous training which was in store for them.

Even though they'd run so many laps around the court at the pace they had and the sweat was now coating each of them in an almost blank layer, this was only just the beginning. They all knew that and were prepared for it. That had just been what their training had become after they got that Miracle captain. It was a lie to say it hadn't improved their physiques though.

And with the Winter Cup coming up, they would inevitably be faced by one threat after another, as four other schools would have a member stemming from the same school as their captain and bearing the title of a Miracle. Them and then that new combo from some no-name High School.

But despite all the threats, there was not a single doubt in any of their minds that it would ultimately be their win. They were without equal, the best team of their age-group. Number one. They had been for the last five years and weren't about to give that title up this year.

As usual, after all the training of shots, team play, passes and defenses as they always did, they ended it off by putting it all together in a practice match.

The little, red haired captain swiftly pushed the orange ball out of his temporary opponent's hands. Taking advantage of his opponent's confusion, he slipped past him and gained control of it as he dribbled towards the opposite net.

Speeding across the court, he soon reached the other side. However suddenly, as he was about to throw it and make a score, it just disappeared right before his eyes from his bare hands. He was confused, yes, but probably not for the reason you'd think.

No, he recognized the sound it had made just before the ball had disappeared. It was only.. His mind and brain struggled to understand it. Struggled to accept it. "It can't be…" He mumbled, his mind drawing a complete blank. After all this time… His mind fumbled around as he turned slowly.

"You know, Sei-kun you really need to be more on guard. You were completely open!" A painfully familiar voice called out to him from the sidelines. A voice he had long since thought and accepted he'd never hear again. "You of all people should know that." The female voice sad with a slight pout to it.

The only thing he could do was stare at the woman, who had stolen his ball right out of his hands. With her hip from where she was casually sitting on the railing, legs crossed and the orange ball spinning on her finger. The blonde woman, whom he had never thought he'd see again, smiled at him once again.

As she looked at him with her warm, brown eyes, his mind finally seemed to catch up with reality. "Lu… Cy?" He asked slowly, disbelievingly. She hadn't changed at all, not in the least.

"Akashi, you know this girl?" The tall, slightly feminine-ish guy asked. He lifted his hand up to cover his mouth as he uttered a fake gasp. "Don't tell me she's…!"

Lucy giggled as she jumped down from the thin metal-fence and onto the court with ease. "No, not quite like that." She reassured him, shaking her head lightly. "I guess I'm more of a sister to him." She corrected him with a smile.

"Ohh, so we've got a mother _and_ a sister on the team now?" The blonde guy asked energetically, reminding Lucy slightly of Aomine.

His words confused her nonetheless though. "Mother?" She asked with furrowed brows.

The big, dark man hit the back of the blonde guy's head. "Shut up with that crap, moron." He told him, before turning to the other blonde person present in the gym with his usual, angry scowl. "Anyway, what's your story with the captain?" He asked her almost angrily.

While she hesitated at his hostile behavior someone else answered for her. "She was with him and the others back when they were mere first years at Teiko." An adult man, seemingly in his forties, with gray hair running in thick lines on each side of his head.

"How do you know, coach?" The blonde asked curiously. Exactly the question Lucy wanted to know too.

"Because my sister's husband was their head coach." He simply replied.

She recognized him from somewhere, she was sure of it. She was squinting her eyes, trying to figure out who he was, when his words registered in her mind. "Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly, surprising the surrounding people. "You're Eiji, right? Eiji Shirogane, Hinata's brother." She asked him, excited to have figured it out.

He looked at her coolly, then gave her a single nod. "Yes, that's me." He confirmed for her.

In her silent mind, she noted how much he'd really changed since she saw him last. Not only because of his gray hair, but also because of his aging, wrinkling face. Though, of course, it wasn't much yet.

Looking curiously towards Akashi, she wondered if there was something which had changed about him too. "Hmm.." She hummed as she stepped closer to the redhead. The first thing she noticed… His height. She smiled at him once again while her soul cried out miserably. "It would seem my cute, little Sei-kun grew up." She said. Like everyone else, he was now also taller than her. Her last hope was Kuroko…

He looked at her with a single raised brow. "Two years have passed since then, you cannot expect nothing to have changed in your absence." He reasoned with her logically. Though it probably wasn't the intention of it, his somewhat harsh words stung her a little.

But she got exactly what she was fishing after. It really was true that time for Earthland and Earth had no connection. Five minutes there, seven days here.. And now it was reversed, two years here, seven years there. Of course, the circumstances were quite different, which probably also had something to say about it all. But the one thing she knew was that nothing was ever a coincidence with all of this.

She refocused back at the present and shook her head. "No, I guess I can't." She agreed. Other than his growth, nothing else seemed to have changed.

He was still short in comparison to the others, though his build was more adult and firmer than before, he was still the slender type of guy. His hair was as burning red as always and long enough to cover his eyes, though the spikiness of it didn't allow that. His features, though grown, were still the same.

There was one thing which was different though. Very different. "Your eye.." She said worriedly, looking at his now mismatched eyes. One was red as always, the other.. Yellow as a bolt of lightning. It struck her she had seen this eye before, for just a moment. Back at his own room when he and his father had had an argument. "Did something happen?" She asked as she gently brushed his bangs away to clear it.

"Huh… You really must be close to Sei-chan to casually touch him like that." The tall, black haired guy mumbled to himself. When the girl turned around and looked at him confusedly, having heard him, he elaborated. "Usually." He started, eyeing his captain, pausing for a moment. "Never mind." He then said, seeing his captain's expression. What was that all about?

"Don't worry, lady. That eye is the Emperor Eye!" The blonde guy reassured her with a smile.

"The Emperor Eye…?" She repeated curiously. She had never heard of such an eye before. What did it mean?

Akashi sighed. "It does not matter for now." He disregarded the topic. "I am curious though, why did you disappear without a word back then?" He asked her.

He wasn't the type to express his feelings openly, and he still wasn't. That didn't mean they didn't exist of course. Instead of being clearly visible in his facial expressions, they swam around in his eyes. And right now, they showed hurt and betrayal.

Inwardly gulping at the fact that she had make him feel like that, she looked at him apologetically, bowing lightly where she stood. "I'm sorry for leaving just like that, it wasn't fair of me." She admitted. Since she had known the trials were coming up, she should have told them it was possible she wouldn't be able to show up as much. But how could she have predicted what happened? "There were some unexpected things which came up and required my attention." She tried to talk her way out of things.

There was a moment of pause from the redhead, one which felt very, very long. "I see." He finally replied.

Realizing she wouldn't be getting anything more from him, she straightened her back. "Anyway." She said as she turned and looked around at the foreign gym. It wasn't at Teiko, she knew that much. "Where am I?" She bluntly asked.

She had woken up in the adjoining hallway, and following the familiar sounds, these five in the middle of practice.

Meanwhile, the four who hadn't previously known of her habit of showing up randomly, looked at her disbelievingly. "How can you be somewhere without knowing where you are?" The black haired guy asked slowly.

She apologetically scratched the back of her head with a little laugh. "So you didn't get over that, even after all this time?" He asked, referring to her strange disorder.

She shook her head. "No, not quite." She said. And she wouldn't anytime soon either if it was up to her in any way at all.

With a slight pull of his shoulders, Akashi gestured to the school they were currently in. "You're at Rakuzan High, presently the leading school in basketball." He introduced it.

"Yup! And we're his team!" The blonde guy announced with a smile which showed off his snaggletooth. "I'm Kotaro Hayama, nice to meet ya!" He said and shook her hand energetically. He then proceeded to twirl around and throw an arm over her shoulders, facing the remaining members. "That's Reo-nee." He introduced, pointing at the tall guy with the long, black hair.

Who sighed deeply at the introduction. "You don't introduce people by their nicknames, Hayama." He berated the blonde. Now Lucy understood who 'mother' was. Then 'Reo-nee' turned to her. "I'm Reo Mibuchi." He introduced himself more properly.

She nodded and smiled to Akashi's new team members. If all of her boys had split off and gone to new schools, she was afraid she'd have to be introduced to a lot of people these following days..

Hayama rolled his eyes as he continued on. "Yeah, yeah." He grumbled as he gestured to the tall, dark man. "And that right there." He said, taking a momentary dramatic pause before continuing. "Is a bastard." He said with a big grin.

Though it was hard to keep it in, she somehow managed not to laugh at that, though she couldn't keep back a smile. "Oi, now who's the bastard, bastard?" The somewhat angry-looking guy retorted, which only made the blonde guy laugh. The big man turned to the blonde girl. "Don't believe anything that blonde idiot tells you." He warned her. "I'm Eikichi Nebuya, by the way." He introduced himself.

Turning to the last of the four, the one with the white, spiky hair, all she got was an annoyed scowl. When he had let her know exactly how annoyed he was with the situation, he bluntly turned around and walked away, leaving a confused blonde to look after him distraughtly.

"Huh?" Was her first reaction. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked worriedly. Though she had no idea how close she'd get to these guys, having such a failure of a first meeting was never good.

Hayama also watched the quite rude guy leaving and sighed. "No, don't worry about it. That guy, Chihiro Mayuzumi, is just that kinda person." He reassured her. His frown instantly turned to a big grin as he finished his sentence though. "Anyway, what's your name, lady?" He asked her excitedly.

She smiled and silently scolded herself for not having introduced herself sooner. "Yes, of course. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but just call me Lucy." She introduced herself. "It's nice to meet Sei-kun's new friends!"

This caused a strange, almost awkward second of silence. "Yeah, 'friends'." Mibuchi said thoughtfully, as if the words seemed wrong in his mouth.

Eiji clapped his hands together once, getting all attention. "Training's over, you boys should go take a bath." He said before promptly turning around and walking towards the exit. Wasn't he supposed to join them in the changing rooms and give them some feedback on how they had been doing and what they needed to focus on? Wasn't that how it worked?

As Hayama gave her a smile and a wave and began walking in more or less the opposite direction of his coach with the other, she felt her red haired friend's presence right behind her. As she looked over her shoulder at him, she saw he was wearing a somewhat serious expression. "I will be back shortly, can I expect you to still be here?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, you can." She promised him. While it was hard to figure out how all of this travelling between worlds worked, she had gotten a feeling of it. And she had a feeling that the things she were to learn today weren't quite done yet.

"Good." He said, then also followed the rest of his team to what she figured were the changing rooms. She stood there, in the middle of the floor, and watched as her friend's suddenly very grown back disappeared from her sight.

It was actually quite tough, seeing everyone around her had grown and changed while she hadn't changed a bit. It was the same back at Earthland. Though the ones closest to her had been caught on Tenrou just like her, seeing Bisca and Alzack had gotten Asuka, that Romeo had grown up to be the age of Wendy, Macao being and old man and the substitute guild master those seven years, even the member of the other guilds who came to celebrate their return. They had all gotten so strong since then, Max almost beat Natsu for god's sake, and that only meant she was now weaker than ever.

How could they ever return to being the strongest guild in Fiore again?

Well, that wasn't actually important, as long as she had everyone back there, she was quite satisfied, also if she was one of those who sat on the bench and watched as everyone else fought the hard battles while she could do nothing. As long as she had them, she'd be fine.

However… Though she hadn't been here long or interacted with her friend for long, it seemed to her Akashi had changed a lot. He seemed… Harsher, colder than before. She knew something had happened, he even insinuated it himself and his eye announced it loud and clear to her, but she didn't know what. And what if what had happened had also sparked as big a difference in everyone else? Where were they even?

Right now… Her greatest fear was that they all hated her because she just disappeared without a word as she did. That they all felt that feeling of betrayal and hurt she had seen in Akashi's eyes earlier. What if this had ruined her relationship with everyone?

She even feared she wouldn't be able to recognize them on the streets if she walked past them. They might, for all she knew, have had a crazy growth-spurt and changed from boys to men just those two years. And Satsuki too, what had happened with her if everyone had split up? She had probably gone with either Aomine or Kuroko, depending on her relationship-status with the boys.

How'd she know which schools they were going to? Maybe she wasn't in Tokyo right now, but somewhere else in Japan. It wouldn't be simple for her to just go back and forth between one and the other. And what if she had been badly hurt on a mission and was nowhere near Kozo's place… What if one of them found her all bruised and battered like that? What'd she say? What would they do?

Maybe… Was it about time she told them about herself? The truth? That might just make everything worse if she came out and told them now, when they might hate her already. It'd only make it worse when they found out she hadn't told them the truth all along. There was no way they wouldn't get angry at her.

Just what was she to do?

Suddenly, Eikichi's words echoed in her mind.

 _What's your story with the captain?_

 _Captain._

Her eyes widened as her previous thoughts were completely expelled from her mind. Captain? Akashi? Akashi was a captain of this team? It fitted him.

She looked up when she heard footsteps approaching and saw Akashi coming closer to her, clad in the white and light blue jersey of the team. The same colors as the uniform had in Teiko. None of the others of his team were following behind him, it seemed he had been quick about getting done changing.

She smiled brightly at him as he approached. Her previous thoughts sped through her mind for a fraction of a second. She could do nothing but just act as usual around them, then from there, she could figure out what she'd do and how they had changed.

"So, you're the captain, huh?" She asked to break the silence between them. "And you're a first year too, right? That's pretty impressive." She commented. She literally had no idea what to say, she just said whatever came to mind.

He nodded. "Yes, I am." He curtly replied, making sure the awkward tension between them could flourish once more. It didn't seem to affect him in the least though. Finally he spoke again, when the sound of the others' chatting could be heard. "Let's go outside." He more said than suggested.

"Yeah." She agreed. Though she had no idea what the two of them would be talking about, but, well, it could turn out to get personal.

They had just exited the gym, getting outside, when Akashi spoke again. "Your father called you, didn't he?" He suddenly asked.

"Huh?" She said, confused with what he was getting at. That, and the mention of her father stung her.

He looked at her. "He's the one who took you from us those two years ago, was he not?" He rephrased his question. He knew that was what his father would have done if he had run away just as Lucy had. That and aristocratic fathers seemed to be much more possessive about their children if they were girls rather than if they were boys. He probably wanted to marry Lucy off again.

"Oh." She said and looked down. Akashi was giving her the perfect opportunity to just build up on what he just said. She couldn't very well tell him that she'd been attacked by a dragon and that a ghost had used their feelings to protect them by putting them all into a time warp in which time stood still for them for seven years, while only two had passed here. She had to use it. "Yeah… You could say he did." She agreed, already drawing the blueprints of the lie she was about to tell him. A lot had happened with her father recently, she could use that.

"What do you mean?" He asked her, since she wasn't being very clear.

She sighed. God she hated to lie and use her father to do it. Nonetheless she looked up at the redhead with a tiny smile. "You know how I'd been staying with Kozo?" She asked him, to which he nodded. "My father somehow caught wind of that and had been sending me letters the last seven months I stayed there." She explained to him and closed her eyes as she sighed emotionally. This really was tough to talk about right now… "I had never touched those letters, figuring they were just threats telling me to come back home, but… They were nothing like that." She said with a trembling voice.

Though this was a lie, some of it was true. After having been gone for these seven years, this night when she returned to her apartment, her landlady came by, having not sold the apartment surprisingly, and holding seven letters for her and bringing a guest who had heard of the Fairy Tail members' return.

The guest was apparently someone from the Love & Lucky guild, who had to tell her a very important message. The letters had been sent by her father, the guest told her, and contained enough money to could pay the rent throughout the seven years she had been gone. But that was not the message the guest had come with… Her father had passed away just one month ago.

And to make everything worse, in the letters he had written, in hope that she would read them when she returned, he called her his and her mother's pride. He wrote how he wished more than anything else that he could see her again and apologize to her, for all the wrongs he had done her. And in the last letter… He finished off with telling her that though he hadn't expressed it clear enough, he had always cherished and loved her more than anything else in the world.

Needless to say she had cried for hours after the guest had left, clutching the letters to her chest.

"Then.. What were they like?" Akashi's voice cut through her thoughts.

Realizing she had gone silent as she remembered the whole situation, she quickly wiped the tear which had been building up and continued. "They told me the exact opposite of what I had expected them to say." She said. And that very true. "He… He wrote I was his pride, that he wanted to see me again, so that he could apologize for everything, that he had always loved me despite everything…" She trailed off and focused her sight on her hands, which she was fumbling around with. "And then… That he was very sick." She lied. Well, he probably was sick before dying, but…

Her redheaded companion remained silent a little longer than she would have wanted. "I understand." He then said. When she glanced up at him, his eyes were facing the sky. "You had to go see him as quick as possible, of course you did." He said and turned his head to look down at her softly. "No one can blame you after those letters." He said.

She heard his words, and they did register, but her attention wasn't entirely at them right now. His eyes weren't heterochromatic… They were both red!

Though it was little, he smiled. "I am sorry, Lucy." He said, looking down. "Back then… And up until now, I have…" He trailed off. The sincerity in his voice threw the blonde completely off course and she simply listened attentively to what he had to tell her. "I have felt betrayed by your sudden disappearance." He told her genuinely. "And… I think that may have been the reason for the team splitting up.." He said with a low voice.

For a moment, Lucy was too emotionally moved to could move physically. She was right, she had made Akashi and possibly also the others hurt… She was the reason the team split up. Why couldn't she ever do anything right?

She quickly shook her head, regaining mobility and control of her own body again. Without any sort of warning, she pulled him in for a hug. "Don't apologize, Sei-kun." She told him, while he fought against the confusion of her surprise attack, trying to figure out what to do with himself. "I'm the one who should apologize." She said. "I should have told you, I'm sorry." She apologized. She just wished she could have somehow done just that.

Her eyes widened a little when she felt his arms finally figuring out what their roles were in this embrace, and he gently wrapped them around her, pulling her just a little closer. This was _nothing_ like hugging the little Akashi she remembered. Back then, she was the big one of them, the big sister, that was not how it felt now. His arms were longer, bigger, stronger. They weren't a kid's small arms, not anymore. Now she was the smaller one. It was strange… But not in a bad way.

Though it felt like he was afraid she would break if he held her too tight. "Then how about we are equally to blame then?" He suggested with a slight tinge of humor in his voice.

She laughed. "Yeah, let's say that." She agreed. Suddenly she felt as if someone was watching them, and looked back. She did it quickly enough to catch Hayama's gaze for a second, before he disappeared behind the building, probably pressing himself against the wall as he hid from them, seeing as if he ran, they'd see him.

"Did you see something?" The redhead asked her. Their hug had been dissolved when she turned around to find Hayama there. It seemed he hadn't caught sight of his teammate though.

Though he sounded so serious, she couldn't help giggling. She knew what was running through the blonde guy's head and definitely found it funny. "No, it was nothing." She reassured him. She couldn't just reveal her fellow blonde like that.

As she turned around, she was momentarily surprised to see his eyes had returned to being heterochromatic. She began getting a slight suspicion her friend had a split personality, what with the change in behavior.

Akashi looked out towards the parking lot, where a car was holding with its motor on. Judging from his reaction to seeing that car, she figured it was his lift home. "Well, seems like I am being picked up now." He said, not taking his eyes off the car until he finished his sentence. Then he looked at her with a calm gaze. "I will see you later, Lucy." He said as some strange sort of farewell as he began walking towards the car.

"Yeah, see you!" She smiled and waved, trying not to be too disoriented in his change of personality. Waiting for him to jump into the car and begin driving off, she let a grin fill her face. "Hayama." She called to the blonde she knew was about to sneak away from her.

Stopping in his tracks like a deer caught in the headlights, he turned to look at the blonde who could make his blizzard of a captain look so warm and kind. "Yeah?" To be honest, he was kind of afraid of her. Whoever had influence enough to change people so much were important and dangerous people.

She too turned around and smiled at him. "What are you doing?" She asked amusedly.

Luckily for him, it seemed that though she was important, she wasn't quite as dangerous as she could have been. "Well…" He trailed off. "Do you even know how rare it is for the captain to be all soft like that?!" He then exclaimed.

She giggled. "Well, yes." She told him. "It was rare even back when he was younger, it's probably only gotten worse since." She said thoughtfully.

Hayama relaxed, seeing as the other blonde seemed to find the situation funny. "You don't say, I haven't seen him be like that ever since he came." He said. "He's like a cold blizzard."

Lucy sighed. It really had gotten worse. He was kind to his teammates back two years ago, it seemed it wasn't quite the same now, from what she had seen. "Well, I'll thaw him out of that ice soon enough." She promised herself.

Like something clicked in her brain, she realized what her task here on Earth was. Or tasks, maybe. First, she had to somehow thaw him out of this icy personality his, get him back to the nice and kind boy he was two years ago. That and get her boys back on good terms again. The way he spoke about them before sounded like the split between them wasn't the best it could be.

That was the reason she had been sent to Earth, she knew it now. Help Akashi break out and gather everyone together again. But… Once that was done… Then she'd be done on Earth as well.

 **And that's the conclusion of this chapter!  
Hope you liked it~**

 **So yes, many of you expected that she'd be stuck on Earth these seven years. Clearly, she wasn't. I think (?) Mavis channeled the Tenrou team's feelings back when they were standing hand in hand and created that 'barrier', which I think is Mavis putting them into a time warp - a place where time doesn't move or exist - and then sends them back those seven years later. But it may just be me and they're sleeping on an island which is hidden by a barrier which makes it invisible. What do I know, right? XD**

 **So, Akashi first, of course! We're introduced to Rakuzan High, it's most important basketball members (I am going to be doing this, only introducing the most important members of the schools every time, btw, too many people ._.") and of course Akashi's split personality! How'll Lucy go about figuring this one out?**

 **And now she knows what she came to Earth to do, what'll she do about it?  
So many questions, eh? :3**

 **Anyway, thanks to everyone who's followed this far in! I really appreciate your reading, following, favoriting and reviewing to this story! It is quite literally the only reason I came this far, I was about to drop it right around the time before she went on the trip :/**

 **~Line464d**


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

 **So, as you may have noticed… Early chapter! Yup, I'm going on a lil' trip till next Saturday! I'll see if I can't get a chapter up as per usual next Sunday, but we'll see~  
Aaaaaaand we've reached 150 favorites, 170 followers and only one review away from 300! You're amazing! **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: They haven't graced me with their stories yet. Those two old men. I'm still waiting. :/**

 **Earthland~**

Cana, who was sitting next to a certain blonde Celestial mage, elbowed her friend with the arm which wasn't casually slung over a way too big barrel of booze, while grinning from ear to ear at her. "So, two years have passed there, eh?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "Were they hot?" The brunette then asked.

Lucy whipped her head towards the soon-to-be drunk Card mage quicker than she had initially thought possible. "Cana!" She exclaimed, flabbergasted the mage could ask her such a question.

Mira, who had also joined their table as she was taking a break from her work, lifted a finger. "A lot happens to boys their age, Elfman changed a lot too." She reminded the blonde. The barmaid had once shown her a scrapbook from when the three were young. Boy, had Elfman changed. "So they must have changed at least a little bit." She reasoned.

Thinking back at how grown Akashi had seemed when she'd gone to Earth, she slammed her clenched hands down onto the table. "Jeez guys! They're like siblings to me!" The blonde reminded them. "You don't think about your siblings that way!" You just don't.

This only made the brunette's smirk widen. "Well, the color of your cheeks tells another story." She told the blonde, whose hands immediately flew to her face to hide her rosy blush. "Besides, them being your siblings makes no difference, they can still be hot." She said, making her white haired accomplice nod in agreement.

"Yes, okay!" Lucy relented exasperatedly. This was incredibly uncomfortable to talk about for the blonde. "Yes, Akashi was handsome!" She said, hoping to be rid of their aging this way. It wasn't a lie though… "Now leave me alone!" She told them.

While Cana laughed her heart out at the flustered blonde's reaction, the Take Over mage also smiled brightly at said blonde. "Akashi was the little, red haired one, right?" She asked.

The blonde nodded, feeling that maybe the conversation would now move away from being the mine field it was before. "Yeah, he is." She confirmed. "Except… He's taller than me too now." The blonde pouted. There'd been something nice about being the big one among all of them, even Murasakibara, although it wasn't physically. But that had probably changed now… There were only two more years between them.

Cana laughed again. "Of course he is!" She said if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Otherwise I'd actually feel sorry for him. You're not very tall, Lucy." She laughed.

Lucy glared at her halfheartedly. Despite how she acted, something deep in her actually found this conversation entertaining. It was deep down, though. "But he was so cute back then." She almost gushed at the thought of little Akashi in comparison to big Akashi.

"Ah, but he's a different kind of cute now, isn't he?" Mira 'helpfully' commented, giggling at how Lucy furiously shook her head. The barmaid put a hand to her cheek dreamily. "Oh, how I wish I could meet them. That Midorima and Nijimura must have grown to be such handsome men." She said, though she had never even seen a picture of either of them.

Cana shook her head pointedly as she put the barrel down noisily. "Nu-uh. Rather than those two, gimme Aomine or that Haizaki." The brunette smirked. "Nice and 'wild' for me." She said.

Lucy groaned at how the conversation had returned to this topic again. "Please, can you talk about this when I'm not listening?" She asked of them.

This time the brunette was the one who pouted. "Oh, come on, Lucy. You're the only one who can tell us about them." She next to whines into the blonde's ear as she threw an arm around her shoulders. "Besides, it'd be no fun without your adorable reactions." She teased while poking the blonde's cheeks.

"Cana~" Lucy said in a whiny, complaining tone. She had no idea how to handle this situation at all.

Luckily, she didn't have to much longer either, as their master stepped up on the bar disk. That man always seemed to have impeccable timing. "Brats, listen up! We've made a decision!" The old man announced, silencing the guild entirely. "We're going to join this year's Grand Magic Games!" He yelled, which then sent everyone into cheers again.

These seven years they had been away, Fiore had found a new way to find and rank the new strongest guild, the Grand Magic Games, or GMG for short. Each year, the guilds battled it out in different competitions and the like - different every year - to find and name the strongest. Recently the guild Sabertooth had been deemed the strongest, which was why they were now to be their greatest rivals during this year's Games.

Though the title as the strongest guild probably wasn't the actual reason for him wanting to go… It was probably more like the 30 thousand Jewels which were the price money for the winners.

Nonetheless, though, they were going to get back their spot in Fiore and most of all Magnolia once again!

Makarov clapped his hands together, demanding total attention from his children. "After much deliberation, we have chosen a team." He said, letting his voice do the last of the silencing as strong as it was. "Our team, which will win back out title will consist of Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlett, Lucy Heartfilia, Elfman Strauss and Wendy Marvell as a backup!" He announced loudly.

While her teammates went on to cheer and laugh at their being chosen, Lucy just stared at the old man dumbfounded. "Me…?" She slowly asked. Of all people… Her? What about Gajeel, Laxus and Mira, just to mention a few? They were so many times stronger than she was, it was incomparable.

"Yes you!" Cana said, roughly patting the blonde's back roughly, making the girl jerk forward uncomfortably with every pat. "Of course it has to be you!" She said cheerfully.

Lucy looked at her strangely. "It really doesn't." She retorted. "Even though I've been training physically and all, I'm still nowhere near as strong in a fight as you two, and you know that." She reasoned with the brunette.

This made Mira hum in disagreement. "Well, didn't Gajeel tell you already? The fighters at the front lines need someone to back them up." She said, which was basically what Gajeel had told her every time she complained about not being strong enough. "I know master chose you because of your wide range of abilities, and not your fighting abilities, you have enough of those on your team." She smiled.

Cana nodded. "Yeah, just look at that Taurus, I'd bet'cha he'd win against Elfman in arm wrestling any day." She said. "And Virgo… There's nothing she _can't_ do! Aquarius is a hell of a powerhouse too." She said and grinned at her friend. "You're a damn force to be reckoned with, girl!" She reassured the blonde with a laugh.

Mira nodded. "Yeah, there's no doubt about that." She said. "You're probably one of the most valuable people on that team, the Jack of all Trades." She smiled.

"Maybe, but Master of None." She mumbled to herself. "Well, either way, I'll have to train a lot these following three months, won't I?" She asked rhetorically. She - and the others - only had three months till the Games started… They were about to get busy.

 **Only two hours later~**

"Whyyyyyyyy? Why always - blergh! - the train?" Natsu complained, as he fell to Lucy's lap, which was the only cure for motion sickness ever.

Gray looked exasperatedly at his weakened rival. "Because it's the fastest way to get there, princess pink." He explained for what was definitely not the first time.

"Real men get to their destination as fast as possible!" Elfman claimed, roughly putting his oversized hand to his chest.

"Uhm…" Wendy said from where she sat, squished between Gray and Elfman. "I-I could cast Troia on him?" She timidly suggested, which made Natsu light up in joy.

Carla immediately swiped out one paw in rejection. "No! You need to be at your full strength when training starts!" She told the Wind Dragon Slayer sternly, putting her paws on her hips.

Still though, the little girl looked at the figure who had become somewhat of a big brother to her worriedly. Lucy smiled at her. "Don't worry about him, Wendy. He'll be asleep soon enough." She reassured her.

"Indeed." Erza agreed as she summoned one of her many swords and slammed the hilt of it down on Natsu's head, knocking him unconscious. "Now he will not cause us any further trouble." She said, storing her sword once again and crossing her arms satisfied with what she'd accomplished.

Happy jumped up. "Natsu!" He yelled and jumped down on the Fire Dragon Slayer's face, covering the poor, unconscious Slayer's face with his body. "How could you do this?!" He asked, tears streaming down his face in thick rivers.

Gray sighed. "She always does that, Happy. Get over it." He said. Every time. The cat had to make a scene out of it _every_ time.

"We're going to Ha-Hargeon, right?" Wendy asked, getting a pointed glare from her Exceed for talking so lowly.

Erza nodded. "Yes." She confirmed. "From there we will walk a few kilometers until we reach our destination." She explained.

"Right, it was supposed to be in a beach area, wasn't it?" Carla asked, her paws crossed again.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, it really has everything you could want: beach, hills, rugged paths, asphalt… Everything you could possibly need for training!" She told her. It was the place where she and Gajeel had trained back in time, that one week. It really was the perfect spot.

Suddenly all of them jumped at the humongous snore, which shook the entire floor of the wagon they were sitting on. It wasn't Natsu, though he could snore, it wasn't this deep. That's why it could only be..

Everyone turned their attention to the biggest guy among them just in time for him to release another roar of a snore. Gray ripped off his shirt in anger and slammed it down on the table in front of him. "For fuck sake, Elfman!" He yelled and grabbed a roll of duct tape and pulled some out threateningly when yet another snore shook the floor. "I need my fucking peace to sleep." He grunted as he covered Elfman's mouth with the tape. All without the big guy waking up even once. Not even as he tried to snore in his sleep, but failed to make it as loud as before. Instead, it just sounded strangled and like he really was suffering.

"Just how does Evergreen deal with this…?" Lucy asked herself.

 **At the destination~**

A long, noisy trip later, they had finally reached Hargeon. At least there hadn't been any danger of her falling asleep at any point during that trip - she and her team had experienced more than once how troublesome that was.

Though, since both Natsu and Elfman had gotten some sleep while keeping everyone else awake, it also meant those two were the only ones with any energy and motivation to walk the last part of the walk to where they were going to be staying the next few months.

"Yosh! We're gonna train our butts off!" Natsu cheered with a fist raised in the air as he - as always - spewed flames from his mouth. "I'm all fired up!"

Happy did a loop in the air - being the only one out of the ones who had been awake, to still have energy left - flying with his paw stretched forward. Like a little cat superman. "Aye!" He agreed.

Lucy moaned at their too high voices - though she knew it was nothing compared to the suffering Wendy had gone through on that train. "Shut up, Natsu…" She complained to him. She wasn't in the mood or had the energy for this right now.

"Luce~ Don't be such a buzzkill~!" Natsu complained, looking over at her like a hurt puppy. A look which had gotten her down more times than she could count.

"She's right, shut up moron." Gray grunted from where he dragged his shed clothes after him on the ground.

"Did you finally turn into a grumpy old man, ice-cube?" Natsu asked his rival with a smirk, clearly wanting to start something up. Gray, however, was too tired for this, and simply sent the pink haired guy a glare.

And he wasn't the only one the pinkette received a glare from. "If you utter one single word, I will make sure you can never speak again." Erza promised him with a deathly look in her eyes. Right now, there was not much doubt that she'd do it if he actually said anything.

Which immediately made Natsu _and_ Happy shut up, not even confirming with an 'aye'. "That's a real man." Elfman muttered to himself as he carried a dead tired Wendy in his arms.

Suddenly, everyone was blinded as a golden flash appeared in the middle of the group. It disappeared as fast as it had appeared though. "Ah, Princess!" A very familiar, flirty voice called out to Lucy. "I've been longing to see you for so long!" Loke told her.

She smiled at her Lion Spirit. It had actually been a while since she had last seen Loke, so it was a pleasant surprise. "Loke! What are you doing here?" She asked, while walking. Somehow, his appearance rejuvenated her a little.

With that, he pushed his glasses up - which made Lucy giggle at the similarity it had to how Midorima always did it - and smiled at her. "Well, I have an invitation from none other than the Spirit King himself." He said, the smirk turning into a grin. "To a party, celebrating that you all got out of that time and space spell of Mavis'" He told her.

"Really? Stache-face?" Lucy asked, baffled the Spirit King himself would invite her - _her_ \- and her friends to a party, in the Spirit World no less. Seeing as he was hard to get to Earthland. "That's incredible." She commented.

"Right? He's got it all prepared too!" The Lion said excitedly.

Behind them, Erza cleared her throat, attracting their attention. "As kind and gracious and offer as that is, I am afraid we will have to decline." She told him.

Gray nodded. "Yeah. I'd have loved to see how you all live up there, but y'know. We only got three months to train and all for the GMG, so we really don't have any time to use on anything like that." He added.

Lucy quickly did the calculations in her head, counting how much time would pass. "That's true…" She trailed off as her mind worked. "In the duration of that party… There'd be no doubt those three months would slip up fast." She said a little disappointedly. She looked up at her Spirit apologetically. "I'm sorry, Loke, but Erza's right, we have to decline." She said. She really hoped she would still be in his good graces despite this…

To everyone's surprise, Loke burst out laughing. "So the old man was right after all." He laughed, wiping off tears under his glasses, calming down a little again. "Yeah, he thought you guys might say that." He told his very much confused and surprised crowd. "Which is why he will help you all along - then we can have that party afterwards." He said with a wink.

"How can he help us with our training?" Carla asked skeptically from where she sat on Elfman's broad shoulder.

"Oh, that's simple." Loke reassured her. "There are a lot of different Spirits in the Spirit World, everyone with different strengths. The Spirit King and I have handpicked some Spirits which would suit your fighting style, so you'll get their guidance these three months." He told them with a bright smile.

"Yosh! That's gonna be awesome!" Natsu yelled. He grinned widely at the Lion. "Oi, Loke! Do I get Draco?!" He asked him ecstatically.

"Draco? No, he's not really available." The ginger Spirit said and crossed his arms. "Ever." He added with a deadpan tone. Ah yes, as far as she knew he was kind of reserved and didn't feel much like helping others. And he always had things to do too.

As Natsu sunk into a depression with Happy trying to cheer him up, Gray crossed his arms, looking at his friend with furrowed eyebrows. "It's not like I don't appreciate the King's help, but do we really need those Spirits' help? I mean, we're capable enough to take care of our training ourselves." The Ice Make mage said.

This made Loke look at his friend pointedly. "Well, Gray, that may be true, but can you really claim to be as strong as someone who have fought for eons longer than you? Without a doubt, there's something you can learn from someone with so much more experience than yourself." He reasoned seriously. A smile soon broke on his face though. "Which is why the Spirit King suggested this, it'll no doubt help you win those Games." He said.

Wendy, who'd woken up with all the talk and ruckus around her, slowly raised her hand just barely enough to get noticed by anyone. "Uhm… Mr. Loke, uh, I-I think.. Uhm, I-" Wendy stammered when she was cut off.

Carla gently slapped the girl with her tail. "Speak up with pride and confidence, Wendy! Otherwise no one will hear you." The stern Exceed told her friend.

Wendy looked to her friend and nodded determinedly. "Yes, Carla." She said and almost pumped her little fist in resolution as she turned to the Spirit once again. "I think the Spirit King's offer is a good idea, Mr. Loke." She told him. "Uhm.. I'll be happy if someone wants to teach me things like that." She added, getting increasingly timid as she went. In the end, she was even looking down at the two fingers she shyly pushed together.

While Carla sighed something about confidence, Loke smiled softly at the young, blue haired girl. "Of course! The one we've assigned for you actually came to us and asked for it." He told her.

Wendy's brown eyes widened further as she looked at the Lion. "Really?" She asked, to be sure he wasn't lying to her. "Who is it?" She asked curiously.

"It's none other than the Winged Horse, Pegasus herself." He told her. "Obviously, her affinity is with Wind magic, and as Carla can act as your wings from time to time she'll probably also teach you about aerial battle." He explained.

"Wow…" Was all Wendy could say to that.

"Hmph." Carla huffed, crossing her paws. "'From time to time', do you really not think I can amount to more than that, Spirit?" She asked him, feeling offended he thought so little of her.

Wendy quickly shook her head. "Carla! He didn't mean it like that!" She reassured her insulted friend.

"I hope mine's a real man…" Elfman said thoughtfully, seemingly not minding his two passengers' bickering.

"Well.." The Spirit trailed off. "He's a real bull, that's for sure. And a strong one too." He hinted.

Lucy almost gasped. "Taurus?" She asked him. When she got a nod, she smiled. "I see why." She said. Taurus and Elfman fought more or less the same way, what with their monstrous strength.

Loke nodded again. "Yeah, it was either him or Hercules, but we figured it'd be best with Taurus, since it's someone he knows a little." He reasoned.

Erza gave a single, curt nod. "That was a good decision." She agreed. "It is a great honor to be taught under someone sent directly under the Spirit King himself, I would be pleased if you tell him my thanks." She told the Zodiac leader.

"Right, will do." He promised her. "We put Orion on you, by the way. He doesn't have Requip, but he's a weapon specialist like no one else, so he'll probably be able to teach you a few tips and tricks." He told her.

"Orion, the Hunter Spirit." The redhead recalled. "I see. I'm grateful, thank you." She said, mulling over everything she had read about that Spirit back when they were researching what Lucy was going through.

"What about me?! What about _me?!_ " Natsu asked, having finally gotten over his momentary depression of not being taught under the Celestial dragon, and now being overly excited over which Spirit was assigned to him. He really was like a child sometimes. "Who did I get?!" He pushed on.

The Lion sighed at is energy. "We finally managed to convince Phoenix to take care of you. It was a hassle, so you better be thankful he accepted to." He said, the exasperation of finding someone who actually wanted to have anything to do with Natsu clear in his voice.

"Yosh! I'm gonna kick his ass!" He promised all of them with his fist on fire.

"As if. It's more realistic he'll beat yours a hundred times over, flame-tard." Gray commented from the side, with a scowl on his face. Natsu had gotten quite an awesome Spirit after all.

"A little jealous, are we?" Loke asked with a wink and a nudge at one of his best friends. "Don't worry, Gray. You get the very best of them all!" Loke promised him, a grand smile on his face.

"Who?" Gray simply asked, never been one to beat around the bush.

"Me, of course!" He said with his arms spread wide and sporting a big grin. Though he didn't want to show it openly, it was clear that behind that scowl, Gray was actually glad with that decision. Which made Lucy giggle and Loke misunderstand it. "Oh, Princess! Don't fret, I will still be around and there to help you at a moment's notice!" He reassured her immediately.

"Oi, bastard, weren't you supposed to be with me, you ass?" The Ice Make mage asked him with false irritation.

Lucy shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll be just fine, Loke." She reassured him. "So, who do I get?" She asked him.

Though with a very dejected look, he answered her. "You're getting Capricorn, he's been wanting to get you through the same routine he sent your mother through, so that wasn't even up for discussion." He told her. "Unfortunately." He muttered.

Capricorn was Lucy's latest Spirit. He was one of her mother's keys, which she had handed over to one of her underlings, but then that guy ran off with it. Now she found him again - though it was only Loke who knew it - as he was a part of Grimoire Heart, who attacked them on Tenrou. Turned out he was possessed by a human or something, Loke hadn't told her much about it. But he'd been very happy to return to her, that much she did know.

"So will you be staying out all this time these three months, or do you have something else in mind?" Erza asked.

"We're staying here, of course. That's much simpler." He told her as if it was nothing.

"But…" Lucy trailed off. "Wouldn't that drain you all a lot?" She asked him confusedly. Yes, he had somehow managed to stay out three whole years, but that was also ridiculous. His guilt kept him alive. He, and the others, had no such thing to keep them alive now, so how would it work out for them?

"Ah." He slowly said, understanding what they were getting at. "No, that's not a problem at all, since the Spirit King will be supporting us throughout the time we're here." He reassured her with a grand smile. "Anyway, I won't keep you guys any longer, keep going and I'll get everyone together to meet you sometime tomorrow. So take it easy and relax today, okay?" He told them, before he went back to his own world.

Lucy suddenly felt a weight around her shoulders, that being her friend's warm arm. "Man it's awesome to have someone like you on the team, Luce." Natsu said with a grin. The blonde smiled at him. It seemed she was some good, at the very least. "Let's go have some fun, guys!" He proceeded to yell as he ran forward, way in front of all of them.

 **Mmm… Yeah, ending it off there.  
I know, slightly shorter chapter, but I really hardly have any more time to write any more than this today… Sowwyy~**

 **But yes, I decided to alter this training thing a little. I mean, please, at least Capricorn should have known they were busy training, so they couldn't come to that party - which they had only tricked the band to come to by telling them the Celestial World was in danger.  
So, I'm doing it this way :3**

 **Hope you like it, and thank you for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing!**

 **~Line464d**


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

 **Yup, yup, back again! Twas a nice trip indeed!  
And while I was gone, we reached the 300th review! The 'honors' go to sakuramathadesu, who was the 300th! Please, pat yourself on the shoulder, guys ;P**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: One day I'll convince those old geezers, but today is not that day**

 **Earth~**

The tall, green haired guy walked beside his smaller, black haired friend, whose face was one big smile. "Hey, Shin-chan, aren't we about ready for the Cup?" He asked, his blue, narrow eyes smiling right alongside his mouth.

The taller of the two pushed his glasses up as he always had done, his expression not changing a fraction. "I do not know, it will be as it does." He told his friend.

Said friend sighed at the green haired guy's bluntness and put his arms behind his head. "Well, we sure can't do any more." He stated. More or less since they had joined, they had both done some extra practice after everyone had left to return home. What more could they do?

The glassed one simply shrugged at this statement and continued bandaging his fingers. Either way, it was all up to fate.

"Hmm… I don't know about that, there's always something you can do. Weren't your three pointers awfully high, Shin-kun?" A voice only one of them recognized asked thoughtfully.

The black haired one whirled around with a big grin and wide arm-gestures. "Yes! That's exactly what I've been telling him!" He exclaimed, happy to have found someone who agreed with him. "Who are you though?" He curiously asked the blonde, who had appeared behind them, realizing he didn't recognize her as anyone from their school.

Meanwhile, Midorima had halted his work in favor of turning around and facing this person. "She would be Lucy Heartfilia." He said much calmer than he felt at the moment, as he watched the blonde wave at him with what had been her usual bright smile.

The black haired one looked at the glassed one with wide eyes. " _The_ Lucy Heartfilia?!" He asked. The clarification wasn't needed, there probably weren't others out there with such a strange last name. Nonetheless, as the green haired teen nodded, the black haired team jumped forward towards the blonde. "Man, it's nice to finally meet you! Shin-chan's told me so much about you!" He said and offered his hand for a shake. "I'm Kazunari Takao, that guy over there's best friend!" He introduced himself with a bright smile.

Lucy took the hand and couldn't help smiling at the contagiousness of his. "So he has, has he?" She asked, sending a smug look in Midorima's direction before returning to the guy in front of her. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Takao. Just call me Lucy, like that guy over there." She smiled amusedly.

Takao let out a bark of laughter. "So it was true that you skip right to the first name." He laughed.

It really was a breach of manners here, eh? Back at Earthland, they never even once used the last name to address each other - not even those of the other guilds - only if it was supposed to be a sort of nickname. Or if you were aristocratic.

She smiled at the other boy. "Yeah, well… I guess I just heard my last name too many times growing up." She explained. Which was why Aomine found it so incredibly funny to tease her with it.

"Ah, I see. Guess you rich kids also have it tough sometimes." He commented, probably just a thought which had suddenly grown wings. If only he knew, if only he knew.

She dared a glance up at her friend. Most obvious change of all was that he'd grown as much as he had. Before, he'd not been too far above her in height, but now he was even taller than Murasakibara was. She almost shivered at the thought of how tall that guy would be now…

Other than that, another obvious feature which had changed was the cute boyish charm all of them had had back then. Now, they - Akashi and Midorima at least - had shed that old and worn skin in favor of something resembling more of a man, just the young version.

In her four-eyed friend's case this meant that his otherwise sharp facial features had grown almost sharper and that his sticks for arms had turned into something more alike a branch as muscle had formed. Other than that, his hair, eyes and glasses had remained the same.

Midorima cleared his throat, drawing Lucy's attention away from observing and studying him and instead on him. "I assume you have returned to stay, or am I mistaken?" He asked her.

She nodded, letting her usual smile conquer her features. "Yep, that's the plan!" She reassured him, feeling her guilt reawaken in her at the slightly cold tone he was using with her.

"I see." He said as they all resumed walking. You could almost see the gears turning in his head as he mulled over something. She almost giggled at how similar his choice of words was to Akashi's, those two had been close friends, even back then. "It is quite ironic you would return at a time like this-" He broke his sentence off and looked down at her, where she was trotting along between himself and Takao. "Were you always this little?" He suddenly asked her, as if it had been something which had just popped into his mind.

She pouted a little, then glared halfheartedly at him. "Of course I have. You've just grown!" She almost told him in a scolding tone. "You probably all have." She grumbled and all-out pouted again.

The black haired teen laughed and friendlily placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so hard on her, Shin-chan. She just misses the cute version of you…" He trailed off and looked doubtful. Then he turned the doubtful expression towards her. "Was he even cute back then?" He then asked her.

The strangeness and the doubt in the question quickly made her laugh. "Yeah, yeah he was." She was barely able to reply over the giggles which bubbled up in her throat.

Takao's eyes gleamed as he thought of something. "Did he also obsess over the horoscopes and his lucky items back then?" He asked her curiously, hopefully. He needed someone to share the fun with.

She giggled once again at all those great times with Midorima's weird quirks. "Oh yeah, he did! He'd bring the strangest things with him to the matches." She laughed as she recalled all those times. Kitchen knives, lamps, chairs, sunglasses, it could be anything.

This made him laugh and roll his eyes. "It's so hilarious to see a big guy like him come running with a pink teddy." He laughed. "Oh! But the most ridiculous thing is when he drops a game 'cause the horoscopes say-"

"Could we please talk about another topic?" Midorima rudely interrupted his friend. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. Usually Midorima cared for manners and the like more than anyone else she knew - excluding her childhood acquaintances - it wasn't like him to cut someone off like that. Maybe it as something he really didn't want her to know about.. She could figure out what Takao was about to tell her though, and it worried her.

Still, though she was curious to know what was going on with her boys, she changed the topic. "So where was the rest of your team back there?" She asked them. When she woke up, it was only the two of them on the court. "Oh, yes. And where am I?" She added, now she remembered.

While Takao broke out laughing, Midorima readjusted his glasses. "I see you're not quite over that disorder of yours." He commented, to which she shook her head. "Currently you're at Shutoku High, which is, in fact, my school." He explained. "He and I had decided we would do some extracurricular practice and the rest of our team has already returned home." He told her.

"So do you just wake up in strange places because of that disorder thingy?" Takao asked her with curiosity filling his voice.

Surprised for a moment that he knew about it, she quickly recovered when she figured Midorima told him, and nodded. "Well, yeah. Basically." She confirmed.

"Man, it had to be funny sometimes." He said. It seemed like he wanted to experience whatever he had in mind.

Lucy rolled her eyes and nodded again. "Yeah, some people found it very hilarious." She said as she remembered how Kise and Aomine would sort of compete against each other to see who could make her angriest.

Midorima nodded as well. "Indeed." He agreed. "I recall how we would make a competition to see who would find you first." He told them.

Oh, that's why she'd wake up with one or more of their faces in hers so often.. She shook her head amusedly. "You guys must've been bored." She said.

The green haired guy shook his head. "It was quite entertaining, really." He said, the tiniest of smiles of his face. It quickly faded again though. "Practice never quite was the same without you." He then said honestly.

Though it felt like it wasn't supposed to have been said out loud, Lucy's eyes widened at the truthful tone he'd said it with. It was the same thing Akashi had told her the other day. Or maybe more hinted at… Either way, it all came down to her disappearance, though she didn't like thinking that way. If only she could have stayed, maybe things wouldn't have turned out as they did…

Takao, feeling the strange mood which settled over them, quickly changed the topic. "But to be such a close friend with all of the Miracles though. Must be amazing." He said almost dreamily as he fiddled with finding a new topic to bring up.

'Miracles'. She'd heard that mentioned before by Akashi's teammates, but she'd never figured out what it meant. Now she would, without a doubt. She already had so many questions she was looking for answers to, this, at least, needed and answer. "Miracles? What are these 'Miracles'?" She asked them curiously. She raised a brow and looked at them alternately when both of them looked at her strangely. "What?" She asked, feeling like a complete idiot.

As always, Midorima adjusted his glasses. "I guess it's natural you do not know, seeing as you left just before that term got its meaning." He said.

Takao lifted a finger, drawing the blonde's attention to himself. "It isn't a question of 'what' it is, it's a question of 'who' it is." He corrected her mystically.

It only confused her more though. "What?" She asked again.

A big grin spread across the black haired guy's lips. "Your cute, little boys are the Miracles!" He said.

The blonde blinked once, twice, looking at him dumbfounded. Then, and only then, his words registered. "What?!" She exclaimed, for the third time. Why hadn't she figured that out earlier? She looked at her friend for confirmation.

It took a moment's staring contest before he gave in. "More specifically, Aomine, Kise, Murasakibara, Akashi and I are these so-called 'Miracles'." He clarified. "Aomine as the power forward and ace, Kise as the small forward, Murasakibara as the center, Akashi as the captain and point guard and I as the shooting guard." He said.

"Yeah, you guys were a completely invincible force of a team back then." Takao chirped in.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. Quite a few names were missing there… And Akashi was the captain? "What about Nijimura, Kuroko and Haizaki?" She asked Midorima confusedly.

"Ah yes, of course." He said, pushing his glasses up so that they covered his eyes from sight. "In the beginning of the second year Nijimura's father got sick. So, in order to could take more care of him, he decided to hand over the title of captain to Akashi and leave the team." He explained as the blonde listened with rapt attention. "Later on, same year, Akashi and I decided it would be in the team's and Haizaki's own best interest that he get thrown off the team as Kise quite frankly is and was much more interested in playing and winning and played much better than Haizaki was and he would eventually take his spot on the team." He continued, not letting himself be bothered with the blonde's reactions. "Lastly, Kuroko is known as the Phantom Sixth Man." He looked down at her. "That is not because he was not recognized as as talented as the rest of us, it was simply because no one besides the team knew of his name and face." He reassured her.

"Oh…" Lucy muttered, facing the ground, as she processed all the information she had been given. So much had happened in her absence… She had missed so much. "So you were- are called 'Miracles' because of your skills?" She asked, though she didn't look up from the ground she was walking on.

"It's not just skill, it's an incredible amount of talent!" Takao corrected her. "No one, not a single team, could win against the Generation of Miracles. It was impossible to do." He said. "It's said their talent is something you only see once every ten years!"

"Sure you're not exaggerating a little there, Takao?" She said. Surely it was impossible to win every single match, no matter how good you were.

However, she was proven wrong as he quickly shook his head. "I'm literally not kidding. Their defenses were tough as steel thanks to that tall guy, their attack even more unstoppable and then they all made the best out of their talents with teamwork." He said.

Now the puzzle pieces fell together in her mind. "So you all split up so that you could face new challenges, didn't you?" She asked Midorima directly.

"You could say that." He sort of agreed. He didn't feel like elaborating though.

Which told her that there probably was more to it than that and that Midorima had no intention of telling her whatsoever.

She released a sigh, in all likelihood she'd find out later, but it all just added to the feeling of having missed out on so many things. "So, do you know what became of Nijimura and Haizaki afterwards?" She asked him. She really hoped circumstances would be so that she met everyone from the Taiko team, not just the 'Generation of Miracles'.

For a moment, the green haired guy remained silent, probably and hopefully because he was thinking about her question. "Well I do not know for sure." He started out. "But I do think both of them have restarted playing basketball in their respective high schools." He said.

Lucy nodded. Then maybe, just maybe, she had the chance of seeing them again. She really hoped so…

Not about to let the awkward silence take over, Takao quickly brought up yet another topic. "Hey Lucy, will you be watching us during the Winter Cup?" He asked her hopefully.

"The Winter Cup?" She asked. There were so many things she didn't know. "Is that similar to the Nationals during middle school?" She asked. If they were, she would probably be watching quite a few matches involving the Miracles and everyone else she had known from Teiko.

Takao scrunched his face up a little. "Nah… Those Nationals are more like the Interhighs, I think." He reaffirmed. Once again he lit up into a grin. "The Winter Cup will decide which high school is the strongest in all of Japan!" He said excitedly.

The blonde nodded. "Oh, I see." She said, not really knowing what the Interhighs were either. "Well, I imagine so, but I don't always choose where I go, remember?" She said with a smile. Buut she was pretty sure she would be watching every single match they were a part of during the whole thing, having gotten a little knowledge of how this thing worked.

"That's true." He laughed. "Well I hope you'll be there!" He said with a grand smile. "Anyway, I'll let the two of you catch up! See you later!" He called as he ran off to the bikes, waving at the both of them over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you!" She called back earnestly. "So.. How did the two of you become friends?" She asked, breaking the silence which had slowly been crawling up between them.

"At some point during the first days-" He slowly started out. "He came up to me in the middle of my extracurricular training and told me he had thought of me as an enemy and wanted revenge for some match in middle school." He explained, which surprised Lucy a little. That hadn't been the vibe she had gotten from him at all. "But apparently he had decided that rather than compete with me, he would make me acknowledge him and train harder than me, so that he could send me a 'roaring pass'." He explained.

Lucy smiled. "That's sweet of him." She said. And sort of big too, suddenly turning and enemy into a friend. She couldn't imagine many doing that. Really, she only knew Natsu who could do something like that.

Her friend sighed deeply. "Ever since then he has been bothering me with my 'inability to be social' and this revolting nickname." He then deadpanned.

She giggled at the tone of annoyance in his voice and words. "Oh, come on now. It's quite cute, isn't it, Shin-chan?" She asked him, using Takao's 'revolting' nickname.

Attempting to send her an unamused glare, he said: "Please, not you too." Though he tried valiantly, he was not able to hide the faint sliver of amusement he found with the situation from the blonde. "Next thing I know you will be telling me to go out and meet more people as well." He grumbled like an old man.

Lucy laughed and shook her head. "No, I don't worry about that." She reassured him, about which he visibly felt relieved. A sly smirk found its way to her mouth. "After all it'll happen in due time, I'll make sure of that." She told him. To which he sighed deeply and exasperatedly.

And she wasn't lying. That was what she had come here to do, her mission. And she would see it fulfilled, no matter if it meant she would never see them again.

There was a momentary silence between them as she got her thoughts figured out. "Shin-kun." She slowly said, making him look down at her through his glasses. "What happened back then?" She proceeded to ask.

Obviously this confused the poor guy greatly. "Back when?" He asked quizzically. Not only did the topic take a one-eighty, her mood did too.

She frowned at the ground and stopped moving forward, forcing him to stop as well. "Something happened back when you all split apart, right?" She asked him, looking up from the ground. "Please tell me!" She pressured him. Her curiosity and worry were killing her.

He watched her, feeling how desperate she was to know, then sighed, adjusting his glasses. Although they weren't even close to beginning to fall down. "There is one thing you will have to accept before you can be told." He told her with a voice that was almost unfamiliar. "None of us are the same, innocent boys you left those two plus years ago." He said, ignoring the panicked look she was giving him. "We have changed since then, circumstances forced us to do that." He said and turned around, walking off. "Before you have accepted that, I cannot tell you what you want to know." He said dismissively.

"Shin-kun!" She called after him, though she didn't know what else to say to him.

But she only got: "I will see you later, Lucy." He said.

She could have run after him, but she knew it wouldn't change anything in the end.

What he said, the way he said it so coldly like that, it only confirmed the nightmare of a truth which haunted her. She had only met two so far, but she knew they had changed all without her being there to help them through it.

Midorima, he had always been reserved and a logical thinker and speaker, but he had never, not even once, spoken coldly to her like that.

Akashi, right from the get-go it was clear he would be the perfect captain, a born leader - something she knew stemmed from his upbringing - but back then, he had really seemed like the kind of captain who would care for those under him. That was not the impression she got from his and the other four's relationship.

She knew, but dreaded it would all be the same with the others.

All she could figure to as to what sparked their change was that it was partly caused by her disappearance, though it felt wrong, selfish to think and admit, and then something else too.

Slowly sliding down against the wall of Shutoku High, she landed on the ground with her butt as she realized what had brought on the transformation in her boys.

It was two very connected things. Their skills in basketball and the fact that they had never lost. Not even once. They didn't the first year she was with them and if their power started building through the second year, making them as amazing as Takao made them out to be, they had definitely not lost a single match since then.

As she and her mother had seen it done by her father, power and wealth, the knowledge you are above others, tended to twist and corrupt people. And as once again also happened to her father, once such a person suffers defeat and loss for the first time, that twist, the corruption, might be undone.

But that was her father, she had no evidence the case would be the same for the boys. After all, they were growing and maturing right now, she had to remember that and give them the space to.

Nonetheless, their losing their first game most definitely was the first step. The only and big problem was that she could not simply make them lose a game, she had no say in that at all. This one time, she had to let fate be the deciding factor.

With that last thought, she let sleep take over and she disappeared in a shower of golden light.

 **Yes… Yes I know. Short chapter. But I don't know what else I could cram into this, I really didn't. What I wanted covered has been covered and Midorima has showed his intelligent, but dicky side.**

 **As you might've guessed, I'm trying to narrow down the amount of new people you'll be introduced to, with these Miracles and extras from Teiko, here I could conveniently make sure it was just Midorima and Takao - the two most important characters from Shutoku (if you ask me).  
It won't be as easy for the others I'm afraid… But yeah, I won't really be adding a lot of these characters, only the important ones like Himuro, Kasamatsu, Takao and the like, those would be worth remembering. But there'll be a lot of extra characters too. **

**And as you might also have figured out, these next few chapters will be re-introducing Lucy to 'her boys' and how they've changed - with exceptions. So you can look forward to that~**

 **So, Lucy has some trouble accepting reality, and before she truly accepts that, Midorima won't tell her anything - and of course, for the sake of the story, she won't be told before she accepts it by anyone. ^-^**

 **Also, can we talk about how genius Pokémon Go is? For just a moment? I actually got off my lazy butt today XD**

 **If you've read this so far, just know I'm happy for your support and attention. And the fact that you may or may not have favorited, followed or reviewed to this story. Even if you haven't, I also simply appreciate that you've read it!**

 **~Line464d**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 **Back again with another chapter! Hope you'll like it!  
Just so that you're not confused from the beginning, the first person to speak has trouble speaking. The words in the parenthesis [] are words he does not say (though I put it there so that it isn't too confusing), that and his R's are pronounced as L's and vice versa. Maybe you know who he is :3**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and review!  
Disclaimer: As far as owning goes…. I only own some of this story XD**

 **Earth~**

"Hey! [Pray] me! [I'm] flee!" A guy with dark brown, spiky hair and as brown eyes with big and incredibly bushy brows called, waving his hands around in the air.

Keeping down a sigh, the captain, a short- and black haired guy with steely blue eyes, raised his arms above his head and made a high pass to his teammate. "Come on! Slam it in!" He yelled as the other guy caught the ball.

"[Y]es, Cap'n!" The first guy replied and jumped up, preparing to send the orange ball off to the goal.

"Defense, defense!" A somewhat tall guy with sharp features and slightly long, black hair yelled, as he was on the opposing team during this training match.

Unfortunately the side on which the fragmented speaker, who was holding the boy was, had a somewhat thin defense as they had previously defended on the side the captain was on.

However, just in the nick of time, a tall, blonde guy with caramel eyes, who had been standing on the other side of the court just a moment ago, jumped up just as the ball was released from the hands, which had been holding it.

Though he wasn't fast enough to block the ball, he managed to grace it with his fingertips. This sent the ball slightly off course. So much so, that it hit the hoop rather than falling down through it.

Unexpectedly though, the power it had been sent off with caused it to bounce off the metal ring and fly high into the air. The little, round object filled with air flew all the way to the upper floor's balcony

Even more unexpectedly, as the ball fell down and hit something, a very strange sound came from it. "Ow!" A positively human voice called out from up there.

While the entire team halted all kinds of movement in curiosity and confusion, they heard some strangely angry grumbling voice from the person who'd been hit. Somehow.

A hand suddenly grabbed the railing as the person pulled themselves up. "Can't a woman sleep in peace around here?" A female voice asked as a blonde beauty appeared and hurled the orange ball down at the court again in her anger at being awakened like that.

A very tall and very big guy with dark brown, short hair and dark green eyes caught the ball. "Sorry." Was all the could say in his moment of stupor and pure confusion.

When the blonde rubbed her tired, brown eyes, and had felt the thickly awkward atmosphere increasing, she looked down at the full team down on the court. She didn't seem to recognize anyone at her first look. "Huh, weird." She muttered to herself. She'd expected there to be at least one person she could recognize, was what she thought as her gaze fell on the blonde guy down there.

Said blonde guy lit up like a child seeing his Christmas presents under the tree. "Lucchi! You're back!" He yelled happily, smiling like an idiot.

Likewise the other blonde also began smiling for all she was worth. "Ryo-kun!" She almost squealed, and without thinking much about it, swung herself over the railing and jumped down on the court, on which she ran a pair of steps before jumping right into the other blonde's arms, latching hers around his neck.

"Did she just jump down from the first floor?" The tall guy, who was holding the ball, asked, stunned at the display of power from the little girl.

"Yeah… Yeah, she did." The guy with the somewhat sharp features slowly confirmed as he anguished over the fact that yet another beautiful girl was in his teammate's arms and not his.

Kise, still with his arms around his blonde friend, still smiled as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "You can't believe how much I've missed you!" He said excitedly.

Luce laughed as the taller blonde put her down again. "Yeah, missed you too." She replied. It wasn't like it felt as if it was only a mere three days ago she'd last seen him and everyone else to her.

"Kise! We're in the middle of training, your girlfriend will have to wait till after we're done." A quite thick man, seemingly about the age of Sanada from back when Lucy knew him, with brown hair and stubbles told her blonde friend sternly. Definitely the coach.

Though… "Girlfriend?" She asked confusedly. Did they seem like a couple to him? That just… That was just wrong.

Kise echoed her question. "Girlfriend?" He asked, seemingly as confused as her for a moment. Then he proceeded to chuckle. "Lu-cchi's not my girlfriend." He reassured his coach.

"HA!" The guy with speaking difficulties exclaimed loudly and pointed at the both of them. "I [knew] it! She's [youl] sis[tel]!" He said with a big, excited grin on his face, filled with pride as he figured he's figured everything out.

The blonde girl lifted a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. He was a little hard to understand, and his excitement only seemed to make it worse, but she probably got it right. "Well… I get why you would think that." After all it wasn't the first time. At all. "But no, not biologically." She said with a smile.

Kise grinned widely. "You were a big sister to us in every other way though." He told her.

Completely avoiding to look at the girl next to his teammate, the captain spoke only to Kise. "'Us'?" He repeated questioningly. It also confused him as to why the girl had the blonde's respect, which was made obvious through the 'cchi' suffix. That seemed to only be reserved for the other Miracles and a few chosen others.

The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, us Miracles. Like Kuroko!" He confirmed. Lucy almost giggled when she saw how the mention of Kuroko seemed to make all of them roll their eyes in irritation.

Though, that was before the words settled in their minds. When they did though, it made many brows rise and almost as many jaws fall. "The Miracles? Really?" The tall guy in the back asked. That would definitely explain the suffix.

Lucy kept smiling brightly and nodded. "Yep, I knew them all back when they were still young and cute!" She replied and looked at everyone present, not minding the confused and impressed looks she was getting. It was the third time in a row now... "So you must be Ryo-kun's team, right? I'm Lucy Heartfilia - but just call me Lucy - it's a pleasure to meet you all!" She introduced herself while beaming at all of them.

"Hmm…." The one with the sharp features hummed. A strange… Pink and glittery aura surrounded him as he observed her with a thoughtful expression. After a much too long- borderline uncomfortable - pause of silence, he finally spoke. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He bluntly asked her.

The blonde looked at the guy with furrowed eyebrows. "No- wha…! Why do you ask?" She finally managed to ask as she arrived at a coherent sentence.

The only guy she knew beforehand answered for his teammate. "That's Yoshikata Moriyama, he's kinda been looking for a girlfriend lately." He explained with an apologetic smile. "Don't mind his strange question." He told her.

Lucy nodded, she didn't mind Moriyama's strange question and just gave him a smile, continuing on to the next guy, seeing that it was the one she'd hurled the ball at earlier. "Ah, sorry about throwing the ball at you." She apologized as she scratched the back of her head - a bad habit she had.

The guy softly shook his head. "It's all right." He reassured her and stepped forward with his open hand offered towards her politely. "I'm Koji Kobori." He introduced himself as she realized the hand was meant for a handshake and reciprocated it. "Nice to meet you, Lucy."

She nodded and smiled at his politeness, there would probably be far between guys like him. "Yeah." She agreed as he once again stepped back to stand in the back of the group, so that she could move on to the next guy.

Which was the short tempered, fragmented speaker. "Mitsu[hi]lo [Haya]kawa, at [youl] sel[vi]ce!" He yelled, raising his hand to his forehead and standing firmly as a soldier.

She frowned a little. With his disappearing words and mispronunciations, she was actually not sure she actually got his real name or 'his' version of it.

She felt Kise leaning down towards her. "Really, it's Mitsuhiro Hayakawa, but just roll with it." He quickly helped her.

She discretely nodded and quickly sent a salute right back at Hayakawa, standing as firmly as he did. "Nice to meet you, soldier!" She replied. And that was the limit of what her mask could take and they both began chuckling. Luckily it also seemed the others also found it funny, as they chuckled right alongside them.

Well. Everyone but one guy, the last guy she was to be introduced to, forgetting the coach. His beet red face made his short, black hair and steel blue eyes really pop.

Later on, she would look back at it and laugh at her own obliviousness, but right then she felt a little annoyed and offended that he was almost standing there with his back to her and his arms crossed, determined not to look at her.

Kise's teammate, Moriyama, seemed to realize where she was looking and a grin formed on his face. "Come on, captain, introduce yourself to the girl." He almost seemed to taunt the other guy.

The captain glared fiercely at Moriyama, then glanced with almost childish innocence back at her, his face with a very dark shade of red. "Y-Yu-Yuk-kio Ka-Kas-Kasam-mat-tsu." He stammered profusely, quickly turning around, almost even more red than before, when he finished speaking.

Which also made the whole team laugh out loud at his sufferings. Kise calmed himself down enough to could speak. "Yup, that's our captain." He said, still chuckling. "He's an awesome captain on the court, both in game and training, but on the court of girls, he really can't do anything at all." He continued, still not quite able to quench his laughter.

Lucy frowned at Kasamatsu, who had grown increasingly tense as he listened to their conversation, glancing back at the blondes more than once in the duration of it. And she felt bad for him. "But isn't there something we can do?" She asked her fellow blonde.

Which only made him laugh even harder. "It's probably too late for that guy!" He laughed.

"But…" She muttered frowning at her friend, then catching the gaze of Kasamatsu, who'd been looking at her, then quickly turning away.

"I agree with you, Lucy. Something should be done." She heard the coach say behind her and as she turned around, facing him, he continued. "Genta Takeuchi-" He introduced himself swiftly. "- I have an idea." He added.

She lit up when she realized what he was thinking of and nodded. "That's a really good idea, it might just work!" She agreed with his unspoken proposition.

"Since you've been with the Miracles, I expect you can play a little basketball." He asked with a smile.

She quickly nodded. "Yeah, I play a little basketball." She reassured him. Probably more than they expected she did.

"Right. Break's over everyone! Return to training." Genta called, getting the boys' attention. "Lucy's joining Kasamatsu's team, take it easy." He told them.

While the captain spluttered incomprehensibly, Lucy shook her head. "Nah, just play as usual, I'll adapt." She reassured them, though she got a feeling they didn't believe her.

"But, Lucchi-" Kise stated, before she cut him off.

"It's fine, Ryo-kun." She reassured him, getting a little fired up by the fact that they looked down on her like that. She would show them just what she was made of, she wasn't Fairy Tail's best basketball player for nothing.

With a smile - borderline grin - she went to the now completely frozen and speechless captain of Kise's team. "Come on, captain, let's win this." She said, grabbing his wrist and pulled him after her towards their end of the court. He mindlessly followed.

So she was on the team with the flustered captain and the hotheaded, fragmented speaker against her fellow blonde, Loke 2.0 and the tall, silent one. Right.

Thinking about it, this would be the first time she could experience one of the 'Miracles' power and skill first hand. This would be interesting.

Hayakawa was the one who went for the tipoff on her team, seeing as he was the tallest of them. Unfortunately he was up against Kobori, the tallest one on the entire team and court.

Genta threw the ball up with a blow in his whistle. While the ball was still high in the air, she did a quick glance around. Everyone was focused on the ball, it wasn't only the two doing the tipoff, the others were just as tense and ready for what was to come.

Figuring she would be left behind if she didn't do the same, she redirected her attention to the ball as the two set off the ground.

As she had half expected, Kobori was the one who got the tipoff with his superior height. The tall guy quickly pushed the ball backwards into the hands of Moriyama, who quickly began dribbling forward and past Kobori and Hayakawa on the left while Kise followed up on the right - opposite of Lucy.

She quickly ran up to defend against Moriyama, who was still holding the ball. Moriyama was apparently surprised to see her there for a moment - had he expected she would just stand still and be a pretty wallflower? - then he figured he wouldn't be too hard on her and simply passed the ball to Kise without even considering to do anything to get past her and score himself.

She could see and read it all in his eyes and it bugged her unspeakably much. Did she really seem like the kind of person who couldn't do anything to him? As that kind of treatment often did, it annoyed her to no end. She would show him.

Kise, now with the ball, dribbled to the right, past Kasamatsu, but it was a feint and he rolled the other way around, aiming to drive right past him.

But the ball was pushed out of his hand quicker than he could react to. "You can't use my own technique against me, idiot." Kasamatsu told the blonde as he charged right past him at a speed none on the team could match.

Lucy could though. Easily. That's why it also surprised all of them, Kasamatsu especially, when she shot right past Moriyama and easily kept up with him.

Kobori had stayed back in case what had just happened, happened. Kasamatsu and Lucy ran side by side towards him. As they approached, he took a step forward in an effort to pressure them, though with his sights on Kasamatsu especially.

The two exchanged gazes quickly and just as Kobori really seemed to tense up for defense, still primarily focusing on Kasamatsu, the captain passed the ball to the blonde right before they went into his range.

As Kobori needed some time to adjust to the fact that he needed to defend against another opponent, Lucy had more than enough time to could freely bypass him.

However as she passed the three-point arc, suddenly Kise was there, right in front of her. "Don't run around thinking you're the only fast player here." He told her.

She grinned. "I don't." She promised him. Looking over the blonde's shoulder, her grin widened. "Kasamatsu's here too, after all." She said as she threw the ball between her friend's legs passing to Kasamatsu, watching almost gleefully as he realized what was going on.

Kasamatsu - being the only other person behind Kise - easily caught the ball, jumped and threw at the backboard, from which it fell down through the hoop, scoring them their first goal.

Lucy almost skipped over to Kasamatsu and held her hand up for a high five. "Way to go! If we keep up like this, we'll win for sure!" She said with a bright smile.

His face took on color again really quick, but he, almost against his will, high fived the blonde. "Y-yeah." He stuttered.

She gave him another smile as they both returned to their side of the court.

Now they were to defend again, she just hoped Moriyama was more serious now. She really hated being looked down on.

Their opponents came running towards them, Kobori with the ball. For now, it seemed they played a little calmer, as they scouted for possibilities. But what did she know?

Suddenly they burst into movement, spreading out on the court. Kobori was met head on by Hayakawa, who seemed to want to get revenge over him for getting the tipoff ball. The big guy looked down at the tense and ready guy once before cleverly passing the ball to Moriyama, who was once again against the blonde girl.

Blonde and fired up, as she was now. She would show him for sure, she could already see the hesitation in his eyes. Which just made her inner flame flare in anger. She would show him.

Once again, Moriyama sent the ball back to Kobori, though this time accompanied with a nod. Her opponent stepped a pair of steps back as his teammate swiftly drove past Hayakawa, who was quick to follow up.

When the tall guy was almost right underneath the hoop, he turned - actually more like whirled around and screened Hayakawa. "Moriyama!" He called and threw the ball.

It flew right into the hands of Loke 2.0, who, different from the Loke she knew, knew when to and when not to try and court a lady.

Either way, now he had the ball in his hands and expectedly set into motion. Though.. He began handling the ball in a way she had never seen done before. Grabbing it with both of his hands as he approached her, he seemed to be swinging his arms forward and up.

She quickly realized he was actually about to throw the ball in his hands and hurried forward in an attempt at doing her job in the defense. Though this halted his moving forward, he still had swung his arms enough to let go of the ball and make a shot.

Immediately after he released the ball, it ascended high into the air, much like Midorima's shots, except not quite as high. High enough to make it very difficult for a tiny person like her - she would just have to accept it - to take it unless they could jump very high.

So therefore the ball flew undisturbed towards the net. It seemed her stepping forward when she did had an effect on Moriyama's shot after all though, as the ball hit the backboard too high up and bounced off the hoop.

"Le[bo]und!" Hayakawa screamed excitedly with a tone which promised he'd get the rebound and that he'd do it no matter what.

And despite him being up against an opponent much taller than himself, that promise looked like it would be fulfilled. Hayakawa was doing a really good job with quickly reacting to the rebound, screening Kobori using his legs and hips especially to push the guy back and creating an even bigger range of coverage for himself under the net.

In the end this also resulted in him catching the ball right under Kobori's nose. Still with the very much excessive amount of space and his back to his opponent, he could easily turn around and toward Kasamatsu, who had already begun running down the court when he saw Hayakawa successfully screening Kobori.

Hayakawa almost grinned when he saw his captain halfway down the court. "[Ca]p'n!" He yelled as he threw the ball towards his captain and warning him about it.

Kasamatsu barely had to look back to catch the ball thrown at him. But when he did, Moriyama had already shot right past and away from Lucy in hot pursuit after his opponent.

Everything happened so fast Lucy was barely able to keep up. It was only now she realized that the level of this kind of playing was so many times above what she had been used to seeing here on Earth you couldn't even compare it to how it was back two years ago. If not the same level as, it might even be above what she had gotten used to seeing back home, at Earthland.

"Guess I'll have to take it up a few notches then." She muttered to herself, finally adjusting herself to the level of these guys rather than the small 13-year old boys she had previously. It was about time she did too.

With that thought, she also began running up the court with a new vigor. At that very moment, Moriyama also made it to block Kasamatsu's movements towards the goal, locking him where he was.

Lucy smiled. Now was her time to shine. She quickly put one hand up in the air. "Captain!" She called out. Kasamatsu quickly caught her gaze and just as quickly passed the ball to her.

She easily caught the ball and continued forward. As she approached the three-point arc, she readied herself to score a nice three-pointer for her team, but suddenly Kise appeared as a yellow flash in front of her.

And he was sporting a wide grin, having felt her grow more serious in the other end of the court "I'm not going to let it be so easy, Lucchi." He promised her.

She raised an eyebrow amusedly. "No?" She challenged him as she crouched even further down than she already was. Now she was a little closer to the ground, she could move even faster than she did before. And she would use that to its fullest.

With not so much as a twitch for a sign, they both burst into motion. Lucy did two quick crossovers, attepted to go around him from the left. With her success, she kept on forward. But then he was there again. Drive, she had to drive past him. Maybe..

She quickly feinted to the left, then rolled around in front of him to the right. From here, she got past him again. She jumped up to shoot. She released the ball from her hands. It flew towards the net.

"Nice try."

Then it was blown away. Kise had stolen it right in front of her. He began dribbling quickly down to the other net. Lucy sped after him. He shouldn't be allowed to score.

"Same to you." She shot back. She quickly caught up to him and stole the ball from his hands. She ran back. He was right at her heels. Right behind her. She sped up.

Another opponent. Kobori was trying to defend against her. He was too slow. She did not think twice as she drove past him. She was close to the net. In the perfect position to score.

But then he was there again. Looking at her smugly like that.

"Lucy!" She heard her name called. She turned her head. Kasamatsu. Completely free. Without any hesitation, she passed the ball to him while screening Kise out.

While Kobori stepped up once again in defense of his net, she found she had her hands full with her fellow blonde. "Damn Lucchi. Didn't know you could play like that." Kise said, slightly breathless from their little bout.

She smirked, still with her back to him as Kasamatsu shot the ball towards the net rather than drive past the defender. "What? You expected me to sit down on my ass the entire time I was gone?" She asked him rhetorically.

He laughed and quickly ran past her. "I guess not." He replied and jumped up, catching the ball Kasamatsu had just thrown and began charging down the court again.

Lucy quickly spun into motion, catching up with her friend. While she flanked his left, Kasamatsu had his right. Both 'speedsters' ran up and in front of the blonde as he closed in on the goal, blocking him from getting any closer and scoring. Or trying to at least.

Rather than passing the ball to his free teammates, which by far would be the wisest decision, he jumped up and pushed the ball out of his hands, aiming to score a three-pointer.

Lucy and Kasamatsu both jumped up in an attempt to at least blow the ball off course. But none of them reached in time and the orange object flew in a perfect arc to the net and fell through cleanly, without touching the hoop at all.

With that, Genta blew in his whistle, signaling the match's ending. "Well done, everyone. Training's over, go take a bath." He ordered calmly.

Lucy suddenly received a rough pat on the back, which almost made her stumble forward. "[You]'le awe[some] Rucy!" Hayakawa told her with a big grin decorating his face and a thumbs up.

Moriyama nodded in agreement. "Yeah, to could play basketball as well as you do, that was a surprise." He said somewhat thoughtfully. "What a girl." He mumbled to himself.

Kobori, too, nodded. "Yes, to could keep up with captain's speed and Kise, a Miracle. It's quite impressive." He said with a little smile.

She looked alternately at the three of them, feeling her face heat up with the compliments. Finally the heat was too much and she began fanning her face with her hand. "Ah, you all flatter me." She said embarrassedly.

Kasamatsu laughed beside her. "You can't deny it's true though." He said calmly. No stuttering, no timidness, no red faces, no nothing. He was cured.

"Captain!" Kise almost screamed, the pitch was just about high enough to could be confused with a little girl's. Kasamatsu looked confusedly at him, not quite understanding what all the ruckus and loud voices were all about. The blonde guy turned to the blonde girl and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, shaking her. "Lucchi! You cured him of his girl-o-phobia!" He basically shrieked right into her ear. Once again, she was glad she wasn't a Dragon Slayer.

She smiled and winked at Kasamatsu, who first now realized what Kise had been so upbeat about. "Yeah, I guess I did." She agreed. "Genta! It worked!" She called to the coach, who was leaving through what she expected would be the entrance to the changing rooms.

"Thought it would!" He called back, followed up by a heart and deep laugh.

Moriyama put a hand on his captain's shoulder and looked at him seriously. "Don't worry, captain. I will introduce you to the beautiful world of girls." He reassured the poor soon-to-be-flustered-again guy.

"Cap'n!" Hayakawa exclaimed, bringing the guy's attention away from Moriyama's topic. "How [can] you [ta]rk wi[th] Rucy?!" He asked him excitedly, which only worsened his speaking problems.

"Uhh…" Kasmatsu trailed off, looking towards the blonde. "I.. I guess she just kind of feels like one of the guys?" He replied questioningly.

She broke out laughing. Not the first time she got a comment such as that one. "I'll take that as a compliment." She said with a smile.

"But Lucchi, I'm not sure it is." Kise carefully commented.

He was completely overheard though, as Lucy continued on. "As long as you'll be able to freely talk with girls, then it doesn't matter what makes it work, as long as it does." She stated, looking at him and then all the others. "You should all go change." She commented and did a wavy kind of gesture with her arms, as if she could push them all towards the changing rooms with that movement alone. "Come on. Shoo, shoo." She kept 'pushing' them.

"Right, right, we're leaving." Moriyama said and threw his surprisingly long arms around his teammates' shoulders. "Come, let's go get clean, guys. That's what the lady wants." He said, to which they agreed.

Just as it came into her mind, she grabbed Kasamatsu's wrist, halting his movements, so that he looked back at her quizzically. "Yeah? What is it, Lucy?" He asked her. Still no stuttering. Success.

She smiled. Her idea could possibly be brilliant. "Whenever you talk to any girls and you have trouble, just imagine you're talking to me!" She said with her bright smile. "It might just help." She offered.

The captain's face seemed to turn a shade of pink in the blink of an eye. "R-right, I will r-remember that." He said with a light stutter and hurried off.

She looked after him as he left a little disappointedly. "I guess it's impossible to expect he'd be entirely over it so quick. But I hoped he had…" She mumbled softly to herself.

Kise chuckled right beside her, making her look at him curiously. "Yeah.. I doubt he'll get over _that_ anytime soon." He said with an amused and knowing look plastered on his face.

Which pissed her off, because he knew something she didn't. "What? Why?" She asked him, demanding answers. She had enough questions rolling around in her head as it was, she really didn't need any more.

He looked down at her with that annoying look on his face. "You'll probably figure it out sooner or later." He paused for a moment. "Probably later." He grinned widely and boyishly.

Lucy lightly hit the back of his head. "Rude" She said with a light smile tingling at her lips.

"KISE!" Kasamatsu yelled loudly from the changing rooms.

Kise scratched the back of his head - probably something he had picked up from her - and laughed nervously. "Yeah I should go." He said. "Wait for me out here!" He yelled back at her as he jogged towards the changing rooms as well.

"I'll try!" She yelled back. She didn't have much choice in the matter though. But she didn't feel tired at all right now, so she would probably be staying on Earth a while longer.

Which, to be honest, was completely fine with her. Capricorn was a true slave driver. He decided Gajeel's training program actually was quite good, although he added a bit everywhere - such as half the run was a sprint and not only the last fourth - he also decided she'd do it twice. _Twice_. On sand.

That and then she would do it while keeping either him or one of the other Zodiac's out all the while. And as if that wasn't enough, she would use half of what was remaining of the day on meditating and the other half on swimming laps around in the sea. Possibly with Aquarius chasing her. In a fit of rage.

So coming- no rather, being on Earth those every other day was really freeing. Although some things here on Earth were tough too, it was just mentally rather than physically. That and it was something she really wanted to do. Which killed herself on a daily basis, unsurprisingly, wasn't.

Suddenly Midorima's words replayed in her mind. _None of us are the same, innocent boys you left behind those two plus years ago. We have changed since then, circumstances forced us to do that. Before you accept that, I cannot tell you what you want to know._

She had been very confused as to what he meant with that… Honestly, she still was. But she might just be a little less confused than before.

So far she had had two - and a half - eye-openers.

The first was all the way back when she met Akashi. Her big shock was the change she felt in him and his personality. From a sweet and caring boy to a harsh and - she hated to even think it - coldhearted guy. That was his transformation. She had felt a little of his old self during that hug, but that was also it.

Which led to the half eye-opener. That was the fact that Akashi seemed to have a split personality. Because, unlike Midorima, his change wasn't constant the same was the others' probably were. He had his 'new' persona and his 'old' persona. This was only a half eye-opener because she had known from the start that the yellow eye was significant in Akashi's change, seeing as she had seen it once before.

Of course, Midorima's equally harsh transformations was under the first eye-opener. Midorima had always been reserved but the other day he had been down right cold and dismissive towards her.

As for the last one eye-opener, that one she had gotten today as a matter of fact. And it was yet another proof those two years really had happened and passed. The fact that their level of basketball had risen so much.

Now, she hadn't dwelled much on it in-game, seeing as she had to focus on the game then, but it actually really shocked her to the core. Those mere two years, her little boys had grown so much, figuring the others were at the same level as Kise. She now understood why they were called 'Miracles'.

Yes, she could keep up with Kise, one of the Miracles, but there was a very simple explanation to that. She had played it for what was the equivalent of two years and she had a group of experts to train with on one hand and a group of crazy nutcases to whom everything had to be taken to the extreme on the other. Especially the new things had to be extremized - a word she had created for this very thing. And that was basketball included.

She had never thought that those two worlds would ever meet in terms of the level of basketball. But they had and it actually pleased her.

Anyhow, she could only wonder if those eye-openers were what Midorima had meant, if they were leading her on the right path towards this 'acceptance' he talked about. She could only hope.

Either way, she would put the asking around on a hold for now and at least until she had met everyone again. From there she would figure out what she would do and what her battle plan was.

"Lucchi!" She heard her blonde friend call out to her from the entrance leading to the changing rooms he had just entered, awakening her from thoughtland. "You're still here!" He said, surprised, as if he hadn't expected she would be. Which was entirely possible and had happened many times before.

She smiled and stood up from the bench she had apparently moved over to sit on in her daze. "Yeah, of course I am." She said. "I have to rebuild the foundation so that I can not still be there another time, you know." She said sarcastically.

He let out a quick chuckle. "Yeah, I bet." He said. "Oh, yeah! I thought of something back when I was changing." He said, as if a lightbulb had turned on somewhere in his mind.

"Oh?" She asked curiously. She had no clue what he could have been thinking of back in there.

"You still have that strange sleeping disorder, right?" He asked her. Well, that wasn't she had expected him to ask her about. Some innocence remained. "That was why you were sleeping up on the balcony, right?" He continued to ask.

She quickly nodded before he could ask any more questions. "Yeah, that's right. Why do you ask?" She asked him. She literally had no idea where he wanted to go with this.

"Right!" He said with an almost happy expression, probably because he had guessed right both times. "So you don't know where you are right now, right?" He asked her.

She shook her head and smiled widely, very pleasantly surprised he had reminded her. "No, no I don't. Where am I, Ryo-kun?" She finally asked.

His expression brightened into an even bigger smile, if at all possible. "You're at Kaijo High!" He introduced her, gesturing around in the gym they were currently in.

She smiled. "Rakuzan, Shutoku and Kaijo, eh?" She mumbled primarily to herself. "3 down, probably 5 to go." She said.

"Huh? You've met some of the others?" He asked her confusedly.

Realizing she had spoken out loud and rolling with it, she nodded. "Yeah, I've met Akashi and Midorima for now." She said and paused for a moment. "And you, of course." She said.

She watched as Kise counted, letting three fingers fall and two remain pointing out in the air. "Who're the last two?" He bluntly asked.

She smiled, having expected his question. "Daisuki-chan and Kuro-kun, one of them with Sat-chan." She said, letting two of her own fingers fall. "Atsushi-kun, Niji-kun and Haizaki." She said, letting the last three fall.

"Ah.. I see." He said thoughtfully. Then something seemed to pop up in his mind. "Wait you're going to see Haizaki?" He asked her with wide eyes.

She nodded at him confusedly. "Yeah. Shouldn't I?" She asked him. He might know something she didn't.

"Well, I mean…" He trailed off. "It's your choice, but he got really uncomfortable to be around up until he left…" Kise said, ending out in a mutter.

But she had heard every word. 'Left'? Hadn't he been told Haizaki had been thrown off the team for his sake? It didn't seem so. Had Akashi and Midorima kept silent and let him think that it was Haizaki's own choice? Didn't seem unthinkable.

"Hmm… Well, we'll see." She said. It wasn't quite up to her anyway. "Do you know which schools the others go to?" She asked him curiously. He might just know.

"Uhh, yeah." He said, seemingly running through his memory. "Well, Kurokocchi's at a school called Seirin. Can you believe? He dumped me for that school!" He said as if it was the biggest crisis in the world.

She giggled. "Ah, did he really?" She asked him amusedly. God, it seemed that Kise really had gotten a funny, though not negative, impression of Kuroko. In the beginning he hadn't been entirely impressed with the little, blue haired boy's skills at basketball, but nonetheless he came under his tutelage, which probably had continued into the second year. Seems he really had built up his respect for the phantom boy since. Though it was much, much more than she remembered it being.

"Yes! He did!" He said dramatically, spreading his arms out wide. "Best friends don't do that to each other! They stay together forever!" He said, the conviction clear in his voice. Well, this was interesting.

Before she could reply, a ball was thrown at the back of the blonde's head roughly. "Stop bothering her with your complex, moron." Kasamatsu told the blonde, having picked up the ball they had used during training and throw that at him. It sounded like it wasn't the first time he had heard those very words from the blonde's mouth. While said blonde pouted at his captain, said captain turned to the other blonde. "See you later, Lucy." He said with only very little color in his cheeks and only a hint of shakiness in his voice.

She smiled and waved at the entire team, which seemed to be passing through, on their way out, all at the same time. "Yeah, see you all around! Good luck with the Winter Cup, I'm rooting for you!" She promised. Well, she was rooting for a lot of people and teams, to be honest.

"Thanks!" Moriyama replied while Hayakawa sent yet another thumbs up.

Lucy waved at all of them as they left, then turned to her blonde friend when they had disappeared around a corner. "So Kuro-kun is in a school called Seirin?" She asked him for confirmation.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah he and some other guy called Kagamicchi make an awesome combo!" He said excitedly. "Though not as awesome as it would have been if it was with me." He quickly reassured her.

"Of course not." She agreed with him, laughing internally. Though when she met Kuroko again, she would have to watch out for this Kagami. Having Kise mention him like that, she had a feeling he might become an important factor in everything. "So you've met Kuro-kun since then?" She asked him rhetorically. Of course he had, otherwise he wouldn't know about Kagami and whether they were a good or bad combo.

He nodded again, just as enthusiastically as before. "Yeah, here before the Interhighs we played a practice match against Seirin!" He said excitedly.

This made her stand just a little straighter than before. "Oh, really? You did?" She asked him interestedly. Despite that, it seemed like he liked the team, she felt no hard feelings about that match. Who won?

"Yeah!" He said, then laughed a little. "Although we lost it was an awesome match." He told her. "It's only because I underestimated Kagamicchi, next time I'll beat them for sure and show Kurokocchi he'd be much stronger with me!" He promised her.

Now this made her eyes widen, not so much because he seemed to be on good term with them all because he lost, but because he _lost._ So... Her plan... With them losing a match, things should change, or so was her theory. Now, Kise hadn't changed much since then personality wise, but there was back during the practice where he chose to go for a shot although it clearly was a smarter choice to pass the ball. For him, it was more in terms of how he played, he needed to trust his team more.

But he had already lost a match, so what else could it be? Had he just not lost against the right person?

She shook her head internally. Later. "I see." She simply commented. "Then... Do you know about any of the others?" She asked him curiously. She now knew and had confirmed that Kise did indeed have a complex towards Kuroko, but she wanted to know at least what schools the others went to.

"Hmm..." He said as he thought about her question. "Well, yeah. Murasakibaracchi is from Yosen High and Aominecchi is from Too Academy, but I don't know about Nijicchi and Haizaki." He told her. Without complexes to distract him, it went much faster.

She nodded slowly. "I see..." She muttered, storing those names in her memory. Seirin, Yosen, Too. All right. She smiled at him. "Thank you, then I might just be able to figure out where I am without having to ask." She said amusedly.

For a moment, there was a silence between them. "What about we go outside a little?" Kise suggested, looking to the door the rest of his team had exited through just a moment ago.

She nodded. "Sounds good with some fresh air." She agreed and they both began moving outside.

However... Just as they opened the door to the outside, they were ambushed. By a gigantic horde of girls. "Kise!" They immediately yelled and flocked all around him, pushing Lucy out in the progress.

She looked towards his friend who seemed to be used to, but annoyed by this. Probably because of the situation. Nonetheless she looked at him with a very much amusedly raised brow. "What did you do to brainwash all these girls, Ryo-kun? You must have done _something_." She teased him.

He didn't get to answer himself though, as more or less every single girl looked at her with evil glinting in their eyes. "What do you know, bitch?" One of them asked her rudely.

Another one from the horde spoke to her. "Don't you know the rules? Kise is everyone's, you can't date him alone!" She told the blonde girl sternly.

Yet another girl nodded, her hands on her hips in anger. "Yeah! And you can't call him by his first name or watch him train either!" She chirped in, to which they all nodded.

Slightly amused at their hostile behavior, a sure sign they felt threatened by her presence, which only seemed to further the entertainment she found in this whole ordeal. "Oh, really?" She asked them.

"Yes, really! You're not worth Kise's time at all, you ugly slut!" One yelled at her. It was only just that the blonde stopped herself from laughing out loud at the surrealism of the situation.

Kise, however, had gotten enough of his obnoxious fan girls throwing insults at one of his favorite people. So he pulled himself free from those that had latched on to him and pushed them away. "Shut up! I don't want you talking about my sister like that!" He told them.

They all gasped in unison and looked at him and her horrified. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" One of them almost squeaked, looking alternately at the two blondes.

Another one fell on her knees for Lucy - figuratively - and began gushing. "You're so gorgeous! What do you do to get that figure?!" One asked her. She was pretty sure it was the one who had called her an ugly slut just a moment ago. Meanwhile they all began surrounding the blonde, asking questions left and right.

"Yeah. Are you a model too, like Kise?" One asked her.

"Your hair is so shiny! What products do you use?" Another one asked.

"It's obvious that you and Kise are siblings. You look so similar!" A third said.

Well that sure wasn't obvious just a moment ago. Lucy shook her head. This was absolutely horrible, they were all annoying. "Excuse me, I really want to catch up with my little brother, would you all please leave us alone?" She asked them, hoping for all she was worth that it would work.

Immediately, they all backed away from both of them. "Of course!" They said.

The blondes exchanged gazes, then moved out of the flock, which made room for them as they passed through. Lucy leaned towards her 'little brother' with a grin. "Genius idea with the sibling-thing." She whispered to him. That was the only reason they got out at all.

He grinned at her. "But it isn't really a lie, is it?" He asked her. "Your escape was pretty awesome too, Lucchi." He whispered back at her.

She smiled. "Well, it isn't really a lie, right?" She shot back at him.

He barked out a laugh at her comment. "Guess it isn't." He agreed. When they got far enough away from his fan base, he turned to her again, his happy and bright smile nowhere to be seen. "Say Lucchi…" He started out slowly.

She looked at him, knowing what he was about to ask. "Yeah?" She asked, urging him on.

"I.. I, uh, I wanted to ask why you just.. Vanished like that back then." He told her hesitantly, afraid the question might be either a little too early to ask about or that it was too personal.

She sighed, having expected it to be that. "Yeah… You know about my father, right?" She asked him, to which he nodded confusedly, though with an expression revealing that he thought her father had done something to her again, irritation. "Since I ran away he's been sending me letters, somehow always knowing exactly where I was." She told him. "Until those two years ago, I didn't bother looking in them, but then I did…" She trailed off. She hated explaining this many times. It really made her miss her father.

"And what did they say?" He asked her carefully, as she hadn't spoken for a moment. He felt the atmosphere around her and knew it was serious, he wasn't all stupid.

"They… He had sent me living expenses, Japanese yen even, so I didn't have to pay for it. And that was after his business had gone down, he still managed to send me that money he needed for himself." She said, feeling how her voice began trembling as she spoke. But if she stopped up now and let her brain walk its own way, then it'd first get impossible to speak. "He told me… He apologized, for everything he had done, told me he just wanted to keep me, protect me, since my mother had passed away…" She looked up at her blonde friend teary-eyed. "He always loved me, Ryo-kun, all the time." She said with barely any control over her voice. "I… I didn't even get to say goodbye.."

Kise looked at her with a frown, then pulled the blonde in for a hug just as she was on the about to break out crying like a baby. "I'm sorry, Lucchi. I shouldn't have asked." He told her apologetically. If that was her reasoning for staying away, then no one could blame her.

She shook her head. "No, you deserve to know." She told him. And he deserved to know even more than that too. That thought alone almost made her sob. He may forgive her now, but would he when she told him the truth?

Once again, she noted how hugging and interacting with these guys had changed. Kise wasn't the 'soft' little boy he had been previously, there was no doubt it was not a little boy she was hugging right now. He probably was as built as her own teammates, Natsu and Gray. Other than his outwards appearance - which obviously _also_ had grown in height - he had changed on the inside too. Though it wasn't blatantly obvious as it was with the other two that he had changed, he had matured a lot. This wasn't a conversation she could have had with young Kise. When he asked, he thought far enough ahead to know she wouldn't want his fangirls to hear her answer, only him. And that was before he even knew what had happened.

She found herself comfortable with resting her forehead on his chest, facing the ground a little. That way, he conveniently couldn't see the few tears which had forced their way through and she didn't snot on his shirt. And it gave her the space to brush away the tears.

"You okay, Lucchi?" She heard him ask as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her a little away again, maybe to could see her face for himself.

She nodded and looked up at him - who was probably as tall as Gajeel, for Christ's sake - with a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, thank you." She reassured him, having wiped her eyes for tears beforehand. They were probably just red and puffy now. Yay.

He smiled at her. "That's good." He said, happy to see her smile on her face once again. That was the one, which suited her best. The horn of a car broke their little moment, cutting through the air as if it had been Makarov's voice. This made Kise stand rigid for a moment. "Wait…" He looked down at the watch around his wrist and seemed almost afraid. "Shit! I have to go, Lucchi! See you at the Winter Cup at least, right?" He asked her, practically running on the spot.

She giggled. That was probably his model job waiting for him. "Yeah, we will. Now run!" She laughed as the blonde guy actually did it, sending her a grin and a wave as he ran through the school.

And with him quickly running away, she suddenly felt her knees buckle under her. Time to go home for her as well.

 **Right, so I do think my lateness with this chapter can be forgiven with the length of it…. Right? Please? ._."**

 **Well… I should probably be honest with you guys, honestly I didn't even have any kind of block or anything with this one, I just started it too late. Stupid as I am. And then a birthday conveniently got in the way again, so I couldn't update it as I usually do. Not that I had finished it by then… Sorry, guys!**

 **Anyway, that's Kise down! Now we're just having a few yet~  
Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Thank you for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! Keeps me goin'!**

 **~Line464d**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

 **Yup, yup. Who'll she re-meet today?  
Oh yes, I'm going to Italy the 26** **th** **, a Tuesday and will first be home the 4** **th** **, a Thursday. So I'm going to be writing down there, of course, but I won't be able to upload anything. So we'll have to skip a week, I'm afraid. But then I should also get back into the rhythm of things after that!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and review!  
Disclaimer: As you might have noticed, I don't own either of these stories. **

**Earth~**

"Right, we're going to put those techniques and exercises to use in a practical match the last 15 minutes." The coach of the team running around systematically on the court said. She was a long, black haired woman dressed in a black suit, currently with a neutral expression on her face as she concentrated on the team in front of her.

Automatically, having done this more times than they could count, the team went to put all the balls back in the tool room.

Everyone except the tallest guy, whose ball they were going to be using. The guy had shoulder-length, purple, disheveled hair, bored, dark purple eyes and towered far above the much smaller coach. "Oi, coach. Can't we just drop the training already?" He asked her lazily.

Before she got the chance to reply, a black haired guy, whose hair covered his right eye, looked sternly at his teammate with his single free eye, under which a mole lay. "No, we have to use as much time as we have to practice. We're up against some very tough opponents this year, you should know." He told his taller friend. Training had been exceptionally boring today though, he could agree on that. They all could.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." The coach said and nodded approvingly to the black haired guy before looking at the both of them. "Now, you should both get ready and give everything you've got these last minutes." She told them, to which the taller one just groaned tiredly.

The black haired guy went into the tool room with his ball as the last one, having passed by the rest of his team, who exited as he entered. He silently went to the cage in which basketballs lay, opened it, threw his ball in and let the heavy top-piece fall and loudly clash with the rest of the cage as he simply released it.

A second after he had closed it - a little delayed - a strange, moaning sound appeared, unlike anything he would have thought any of these tools could say. If he had to say anything, it sounded like a sleeping person. But that'd just be strange.

Nonetheless he looked behind one of the walls they sometimes used as a stand-in for defensive players, following where the sound had come from.

And much to his shock, he had been right. There was indeed a sleeping person on the other side of it. A little, blonde girl with her back to him - probably because of the loud cage - sleeping soundly all curled up on the floor. The clothes she was wearing looked nothing like the school uniform of their school - or any school uniform really.

Well, this was strange.

Not quite sure what he was supposed to do with her, he decided to wake her up. So he quickly made his way around the obstacle of a wall and knelt down by this strange girl he did not recognize in the slightest and slowly began shaking her by her shoulder.

As it turned out, that wasn't near enough to wake the slumbering girl. So, though feeling slightly strange doing it, he kept shaking her as he began speaking as well. "Excuse me?" He said carefully, getting a little whimper out of her. Seeing as it was working, he raised his voice a little. "Excuse me, miss, but you have to wake up." He told her. She should sleep on the floor, she could be forgotten and locked in here.

He had to say no more and as her eyes fluttered open, he released her shoulder. Her big, confused, brown eyes looked around at the barely lit room and landing on him, seemingly only more confused than she had been to begin with. "Where am I?" She then asked him, disoriented.

He got up from where he had been kneeling on the ground and looked down at where she had moved up in a sitting position. "You're in the tool room of Yosen High." He said, almost amused with the situation. He offered her a hand to help her get up. "You shouldn't be sleeping in here." He commented. He never thought he would have to explain that to someone. There's a first time for everything.

She nodded and took his hand, letting him help her up from the floor. "Thank you." She said with a bright smile. "And I'm sorry." She added, though the smile never left her face. "What's your name?" She asked him, seemingly out of nowhere.

He looked down at the enigma of a girl, puzzled with her slightly strange behavior. "I'm Tatsuya Himuro…" He slowly told her, wondering why she would want to know that.

She just continued smiling at him. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but you should just call me Lucy - that's what everyone else does!" She introduced herself energetically, then, with her smile, which seemed to be to herself rather than him, added. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other quite a bit."

Himuro looked at the blonde girl, who seemed to know something he didn't, strangely. Her name was familiar to him somehow, he had heard it somewhere before, but he just didn't know where. She was definitely a weird one though. "Right." He simply replied as he began walking back to the court, feeling the blonde follow along behind him.

Just as he was about to point and show her where the exit was, she squealed and charged right out on the court, with one player in her sights.

Though the first squeal didn't seem to bring much attention to her, the second certainly did when she, without any sort of warning, jumped up on the back of the unsuspecting, tallest guy in the room. "Atsushi-kun! I've missed you!" She squealed happily, almost like a little kid, though she did note how little she actually filled on the guy's broad back.

Now, this sent the team into quite different reactions. Himuro remained by the entrance to the tool room, finally remembering who 'Lucy' was and understanding why the girl reacted as strangely as she had. Only thing he didn't understand was how she knew. He thought through all of this with a very blank expression.

The captain of the team, however, he had a very expressive reaction. The big and tall guy with a squared face, high cheekbones and uncommonly big lips broke out crying, like a little baby who'd fallen on his bike. "How can even Murasakibara get a girlfriend, when I can't?" He asked desperately with tears running from his eyes in thick rivers.

His vice captain - the lowest guy on the team of giants - with dark blonde hair and brown eyes, was the one to answer his somewhat pathetic question. "It's simple. It's because he's a Miracle and you're nothing." He bluntly replied, clearly not one to have many filters.

This reply obviously just made the captain cry even harder, which made the Chinese transfer student, an abnormally tall guy - though still not as tall as Murasakibara - with thing, long eyes and ashen brown hair look at him exasperatedly. Clearly not the first time.

Meanwhile, the coach stepped closer to Lucy and Murasakibara, who still wasn't sure what was going on, but didn't feel like figuring it out either, with a look of disdain in her eyes and the way her arms were crossed in front of her chest. "Sorry." She called out to the both of them. "Fangirls aren't allowed during training." She told Lucy especially.

"Fangirl?" The girl in question asked the air confusedly. Before she was a girlfriend, now she was a fangirl. Was it so farfetched to think she might actually just be a friend?

This was when Himuro though to explain where he had found her. "I wonder.. She was sleeping in the tool room." He told the coach. Not a typical trait for a fangirl as far as he knew. It wasn't really a typical trait for anyone, to be honest.

While the coached looked from Himuro to Lucy with a very confused expression, clearly not quite believing his words, those very same words got a reaction out of Murasakibara. "Hm..?" He muttered, grabbed the shrimp-sized leech on his back by the collar, gaining a surprised squeak from her, and then holding her up in the air with her feet dangling under her in front of himself. "Oh." He said, finally recognizing the owner of the voice clinging to his back.

Lucy pouted at his blank and way too calm reaction. "Could you at least seem a bit more excited to see me?" She asked the behemoth of a guy. He was probably at the height of Elfman, if not even taller. "Also.." She trailed off, beginning to glare at him - though it wasn't very intimidating, what with her dangling in the air like that. "Put me down!" She told him.

With that, he obliged and put her down on the ground silently as the coach turned to her, not quite having found out who or what she was. "Excuse me." She said, attracting the blonde's attention. "I will have to ask you to leave the court." She said and glanced at the bawling captain. "And wait outside."

All the way out of the gym? "Can't I just stay on the benches?" She asked. Surely she'd not be bothering anyone over there.

The woman shook her head. "No, you're disrupting trai-" She cut herself off and looked at their tallest player with wide eyes.

With his giant palm, he was slowly reaching out to the little girl. A motion he only ever did towards his enemies, intimidating them with his size and hostility - it almost seemed like he would crush their heads with that one hand - but at the same time also acknowledging them as worthy opponents, deserving of his wrath. Possibly. The whole room seemed to stop breathing and everything seemed to move in slow-motion as Murasakibara kept reaching out to Lucy. She was completely affected by the tense atmosphere in the room and was tense right alongside them all.

And then… The mountain of a guy reached out and patted the blonde's head awkwardly, but more gently than any of them thought he could. Though his giant hand almost covered her whole head as if it had been a handball. "She's okay." He said with the little smile he otherwise only revealed when he got a piece of his favorite candy.

Just who is this girl? - That's what they all were thinking.

Like the rest of them, the coach released a relieved sigh, though hers was also tingled with defeat. "All right, she stays." She muttered.

Seeing Murasakibara actually express some kind of emotion towards this other human entity meant he felt strongly towards her, one way or another. Maybe her presence could even get that guy trying to work a little harder during practice. It was worth a try either way.

The black haired woman clapped her hands together twice. "Practice continues!" She called out, setting all of them into motion.

"'Twas about time." The Chinese transfer student muttered to himself. Though no one seemed to react to it.

"You." The coach called out, looking directly at Lucy. "Go spectate at the benches." She told the blonde.

Lucy nodded and almost skipped to the benches, sitting behind the coach - of course only after said coach had set the game into motion.

The blonde smiled up at the woman, though still with one eye on the fame in front of her. "So you're the coach of Yosen High?" Lucy half stated, half asked.

The black haired coach glanced back at the smiling blonde. "Yes, I am." She confirmed.

Said smiling blonde kept smiling. She'd gotten used to dealing with less than talkative people. You just had to keep pushing on. "You're probably the first woman coach I've ever seen." The blonde told her. "What's your name?"

Confused and slightly irritated with the excessively talkative blonde, she looked back at her again. "Masako Araki. Is there a problem with my gender?" She asked the blonde harshly.

Who quickly shook her head. "No! Not at all." She quickly reassured the other woman. "Actually I think it's pretty cool with a beautiful woman instead of all these middle aged men. I'm sure the other teams are jealous of these guys." She laughed, not noticing how this ignited a slightly rosy color on the other woman's cheeks. "And I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but everyone just calls me Lucy!" She introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you." Araki replied as both ladies returned to watching the guys out on the court. It seemed to be Murasakibara, the little guy - as in lowest on the team - and the transfer student against Himuro and the one who bawled earlier.

Right now, Himuro was the one with the ball. The black haired guy easily drove through the first layer of defense, with much more elegance than she had ever seen any aristocratic ladies move around with, then jumped up and sent the ball off to the net.

However just by reaching up with his extremely long arms, Murasakibara caught the ball in one hand.

"As usual. The play of our two aces leaves everyone else behind." Araki muttered, completely forgetting she wasn't the only one watching practice, as she watched the play unfold in front of her; Murasakibara passing the ball to the vice captain, who ran ahead.

Lucy turned to her, surprised. " _Two_ aces?" She asked, wondering if she had really heard that right.

The corner of the black haired coach's mouth lifted. "You heard right, we have two aces. Murasakibara and Himuro." She told her. Before the blonde could as for an explanation, it came all by itself. "Here in Yosen High we pride ourselves with our impenetrable defense." She said. "And Murasakibara is, of course, a key player to this right now, and the very best we have. Meanwhile, Himuro is our best offensive player, and the only person on this team, who can go toe-to-toe with Murasakibara." She explained.

The blonde nodded. Seeing as defense was this team's pride, it suddenly wasn't so surprising that everyone was so tall. "Himuro must be really strong then." She said, not even hesitating in the least.

The coach looked at her, a little puzzled. "Why do you say that?" She asked. There was no doubt Himuro was very strong, but the way she had said it was what struck her as strange.

Lucy watched as her friend was completely ready to take yet another ball. "Because Atsushi-kun's offense is even stronger than his defense." She said, as if that was obvious.

It wasn't. "What?" Araki slowly asked, now not understanding what the blonde meant for a whole other reason. "His offense?"

The blonde turned to her friend's coach and looked at her with a frown. "You don't know?" She asked, to which she just got a lost look. The blonde sighed and turned to the court again. "Well, it may have changed since I knew him, but back then Atsushi-kun truly had one of the most explosive offenses. That was his real strength, not his defense. During a game once, he scored all of 100 points - and then the rest of the Miracles also scored points on top of that." She explained. That was one crazy match, and she remembered it perfectly. Seeing as it wasn't so long ago for her. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed." She said and glanced at the other woman.

Araki had been listening with rapt attention to what the blonde had been telling her and could clearly feel the girl had much more knowledge on this matter than she did. "He hasn't ever played offensively in front of me, on this team. For all I know, his offense could be that of the national level or a 4-year old's." She told the blonde. "I had expected something like the last option." She admitted to the blonde. "But I guess I was wrong. He also always does everything just fine during shooting practice.."

The blonde's frown deepened even further. "…What?" How had he not played offensively in front of his coach even once? That had to be impossible.

The black haired woman, seeing the blonde's confusion, crossed her arms. "Well, it'd be easier if you saw it for yourself." She said and nodded towards the court, where Murasakibara once again had taken the ball thrown towards his net. This time he passed the ball to the transfer student, who, with the blonde guy, dribbled down the court, going on the offense.

However there was one thing which stood out strangely. Murasakibara stayed down by his own net, not even attempting to look interested in going down and scoring some points himself.

This made the blonde's frown go as deep as it possibly could. Two years ago, though he constantly tried to convince them of the opposite, Lucy didn't have much doubt that the big guy loved basketball, maybe even more than some of the others did. He had been very serious about it and the way he had handled the ball, it seemed like the thing was his baby.

He had never been one to work hard for things, he tended to be quite lazy - which also included basketball practice sometimes. He and Kuroko often would be in each other's hairs because of their polar opposite views of hard work.

He had never as such preferred to stay back in the defense, though he was the one of them with the strongest defense, mainly because of his height. When he got angered though, that was when he really flaunted his offensive prowess. And it always ended the match, the winner was obvious after that.

"I see.." The blonde muttered to herself. Another thing which had changed. Lazy as the guy could be, if he hadn't adored basketball as much as he did, he wouldn't be playing it right now. So that was always something… Right?

The coach glanced at the girl right next to her. "I've been meaning to ask.." She trailed off, making a pair of big brown eyes turn to her expectantly. "Who exactly are you to Murasakibara?" She asked.

Lucy giggled. "I've been curious as to when you'd ask." She laughed. That was the question she'd have to answer every time, whether it was actually asked or not. "I'm a friend of the Miracles from two years back, but then I had to go home for a couple of years and now I've returned!" She answered excitedly.

And as expected, she was returned with a pair of wide, dark eyes. "The Miracles?" She asked as if she didn't quite understand the meaning of the word. "As in Murasakibara's previous team? Those Miracles?" She continued to ask to make time for her brain to catch up to what was being said.

The blonde nodded. "Yup!" She said. "Those Miracles exactly!" She confirmed. It was quite entertaining how no one seemed to believe her at all in the beginning. Was it really such a foreign concept? So unthinkable that those guys might just have a friend no one knew about?

"So you know all of them personally?" She inquired curiously. Lucy nodded again, smiling brightly. "I see, that's interesting." She commented. As she said that, the blonde guy got a shot in over he crybaby of a captain and the coach blew in her whistle. "Training's over for today! Okamura put that ball in the tool room, the rest of you go take a bath. Good work today, everyone!" She told them as they all had stopped moving around and making noise. The woman turned to Lucy once again. "It was nice meeting you Lucy." She said.

Lucy basically beamed at the elder woman. "Yeah, you too!" She said and waved as the coach left, apparently not about to brief the guys on how it all went. She turned back to the court where everyone did as they were told, except Murasakibara, who was just kind of staring at Lucy. She giggled. "Don't worry, Atsushi-kun. I'll be waiting right out here till when you're done in there!" She promised him.

He seemed to narrow his eyes at her for a moment, not believing her, but then nodded his head. "Okay." He simply replied and followed the rest of his team into the changing rooms.

Leaving the blonde to her thoughts, just as she had been with Kise the other day.

It was funny how different her boys' change was shown. In Akashi and Midorima it was mostly in their personality, though she didn't doubt their play had also changed - maybe she just hadn't seen enough of it - whereas Kise and Murasakibara had changed more in terms of how they played. Kise seemed to not do a lot of passing around if he had gotten his hands on the ball. Meanwhile Murasakibara did nothing but pass it around and never scored by himself. Just what was going on?

And more importantly, how would she find out and change it? Because that was definitely what she was going to do. Seeing them all split up like this, it broke her heart. She had a feeling it would one day force her to choose between them, and she didn't want to do that. No one would want to do something like that.

Only thing she could figure out at this point was that the Winter Cup would have a huge impact on her plans, whatever they were. It was the only way she could complete it, really, though it was way out of her hands. What was she even supposed to do?

Well… A start was probably to somehow, in some way, figure out which teams were going up against which. But even if she did that, there was nothing, absolutely _nothing_ , she could do to change what would happen and how anyone would play - if her plan remained that a loss would do the trick.

It was so frustrating that she could do nothing to make this happen though.

And right then, Murasakibara and Himuro came out of the changing rooms, the rest of their team nowhere to be seen. Lucy discarded her thoughts and quickly gave the both of them a smile as she got up from the bench.

For a moment, Murasakibara remained silent as he approached his blonde friend with his black haired friend. "… You're still here." He stated, looking at her curiously.

She nodded. "Of course I am! I promised I'd stay, didn't I?" She asked. Not that her promising she would stay would make any difference in the grand scheme of things.

He nodded slowly, letting awkward silence rule supreme between the three of them. Finally he pointed to Himuro with his free thumb, seeing as the other one was opening a piece of candy while also holding a plastic bag filled with snacks of that kind. "That's Muro-chin." He said bluntly and pointed at Lucy. "That's Lu-chin." He attempted at an introduction of sorts.

Himuro sighed - luckily they had already gotten the introductions down in the tool room. Nonetheless, he looked up right into the blonde's bright smile. "So you're Atsushi-kun's friend, eh Himuro?" She asked him curiously. Meeting her young friends' new friends really was interesting to her.

The black haired ace nodded. "Yes, I guess I am." He agreed. "You're the Lucy from his first year in Teiko, aren't you?" He asked for confirmation. He was almost certain that he was right, but wanted to be completely sure. That was always better than just making assumptions based on what one thought.

She nodded and smiled even brighter, more or less like the sun on a cloudless day. "Yeah, you've heard of me?" She asked with a hand to her cheek as she tilted her head. "Oh, you shouldn't have, Atsushi-kun!"

"I didn't." The tall guy simply answered.

"I've heard of you a couple of times, yes." Himuro answered, hoping to save what Murasakibara had said if only just a little bit.

"Ah." She said. Well, she hadn't really expected him to mention her anyhow, so that he even had was amazing enough. "But yeah, I knew that guy back when he was tall enough for me to could reach the top of his head." She said and looked up at her tall friend. "Now all I can reach is his shoulders." She said with a smile. As expected, he'd grown. And he'd grown a lot.

Murasakibara, having not really listened to the conversation much, held out the hand holding the plastic bag towards her. "Want some?" He asked, chewing on one of the many snacks he always ran around with.

The blonde smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thank you!" She said and reached down in the big bag to take one of the candies she had been offered. She was just glad to get a little away from Capricorn's strict diet. As Murasakibara offered Himuro some too, she figured she might as well have some of the mysteries of her own solved while she was at it. "Say, who exactly are playing at this Winter Cup?" She asked the both of them. Maybe they knew?

"Oh, you know about it?" Himuro asked, figuring the blonde didn't know much of what was going on seeing as she had been gone those two years. Apparently he was wrong.

She nodded. "Yeah, I've been told a bit about it, but not much." She said, remembering the sparse information she'd gotten out of Takao, Midorima's friend.

"Everyone." Murasakibara answered while continuing to chew. "All the Miracles. And Kuro-chin." He elaborated.

"Oh, I see. Do you know who you'll be up against?" She asked them.

Himuro tried to remember who they were supposed to be up against, but there just were so many teams he didn't seem to could remember. "Well, I don't really remember, but…" He trailed off, about to say something along the lines of it not being important, but then figured how rude that'd sound and kept it in.

Murasakibara didn't seem to have that kind of filters though. "They're not important. They're going to lose anyway." He said absently as he watched the remainder of their team leave through the door on the other side of the gym. So far none of the teams they had been up against scored a single goal on them, this small fry was going to be no different.

Himuro sighed, knowing what the big guy was thinking and knowing he was having those very same arrogant thoughts himself. "We're not going to be up against any of the Miracles' teams before we reach the finals, we do know that for sure." He told her.

She nodded slowly, trying not to let Murasakibara's harsh words towards their opponents bother her. Some day that arrogance would be his downfall, he would be taken by surprise by someone unexpectedly good and then be beaten thoroughly. She knew it'd happen. "I see, thank you." She said.

She'd probably have to ask a bit around to find out who'd be up against who, but she'd find out, that much she knew.

"It'll be starting in a pair of days, actually." He said, judging from her expression, she hadn't known that little detail. "Will we be seeing you around then?" He asked her.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I'll be showing up to the Winter Cup and cheering you all on." She replied. Though it was a different kind of cheering than the one they would probably expect her to be doing.

"Lu-chin always shows up at the important things." Murasakibara commented. "She'll be watching all of us play." He added certainly. That was how it always had been two years back.

This made Lucy smile, because that was indeed what she did. Seeing as that was where she was supposed to be, according to whoever was in charge. "Yup!" She agreed.

Himuro glanced up at the clock hanging above the entrance and grimaced a little. "I'm afraid we'll have to be going now, Lucy." He said almost apologetically. "It was nice to meet you." He told her.

Lucy, though a bit disappointed they already had to go - which meant she had to return to hell again - smiled at them. "Yeah, it was nice to meet you too, Himuro." She agreed and turned to Murasakibara. "And to see you again, Atsushi-kun." She said.

Murasakibara just nodded. "Mhm." He said. With that, the two walked off, waving back to the blonde as they disappeared behind a corner just as she too disappeared.

 **I'M SO SORRY! It was late out again…. I don't know what's going on, I just seem to first be able to update the day after ._." Probably because I've had too much vacation already, it's messing up all kinds of rhythms… That's my excuse anyway.**

 **But I finished and uploaded, hope you like it!  
I figured this time it wouldn't be important to meet all the other characters on Murasakibara's team, seeing as they probably wouldn't have much of an influence or screen-time anyway. But nonetheless, I'll mention who they are anyway. The captain's Kenichi Okamura, the vice captain's Kensuke Fukui and the transfer student is Wei Liu. So there. I guess. **

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed!**

 **~Line464d**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

 **Ah, though the wait was kinda long, I hope you all like this one!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made!  
Disclaimer: Unfortunately none of these characters and anything else you can recognize is mine. Yet. **

**Earth~**

With an annoyed growl, the tall, blue haired guy burst through the door leading to the outside. It had already been an annoyingly long day at school with boring classes and now he was just about ready to cut it a bit shorter. No one'd miss him anyway.

So without any regrets, the dark skinned guy deftly climbed up the ladder leading to his favorite napping spot. From there he was at the very top of the school, had a clear view of everything and no interruptions, except the occasional pinkette. But the very best part of it was that he could hear the sounds of the rest of his team wasting their time on something as useless as practice.

Well, they all needed it anyway, what with their already minimal level of play. He didn't need it though. The only person who could even hope to beat him was himself.

With that decided, he easily swung himself over the top of the ladder and the edge of the roof to land perfectly in a crouched position on it.

But as soon as he had safely landed on the roof he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes as wide as they possibly could and ever had been.

He was not alone up here. Right in front of him, a very familiar, blonde figure was sleeping right where he had planned to.

But… That wasn't what got to him. To return like this… After two years. He'd truly, for a little over a half year now, come to believe she had never even existed in the first place. No one just appeared and disappeared like she had. And more importantly, no one just was at the right place at the right time consistently the way she had been.

Yet here she was, sleeping soundly on the floor in front of him, having not even changed the slightest bit. Everything about her was as he remembered.

Slowly, as if approaching a scared animal, he reached down towards her, wanting to validate that she genuinely, physically was there. His mind still didn't want to believe it.

And as his hand connected with her shoulder, he withheld a gasp of surprise. "You've really returned.." He muttered, shocked with the revelation.

Momoi'd been right, she wasn't just a figure of imagination. She hadn't abandoned them all forever. The pinkette had always argued that Lucy would return and that she wasn't that kind of a person, whereas he argued for the opposite. What did they even know about her anyway?

She had a father back in America, who turned into a bastard after her mother died. She escaped her aristocratic life in favor of running around with a bunch of nutcases who taught her to could physically overpower anyone against her. She had ridiculous stamina and an equally ridiculous sleeping disorder, which were only matched by her ridiculously near-perfect personality.

Put that together and you've found the heroine of a fairy tale.

Nonetheless she was real and she was here. Back. Gently, afraid that if he was too rough, she'd disappear again, he began shaking her shoulder, remembering how he and Kise would chase around to find her.

"Heartfilia..?" He called out carefully, noticing how little her shoulder felt in comparison to what he remembered. While she didn't change at all, he changed quite a bit these past two years. Would she even recognize who he was? "Lucy, please wake up." He said, continuing to shake her shoulder. It had been so long since he'd done this…

She muttered something alike 'Five more minutes', but ending with something starting with an N that he couldn't decipher as it turned increasingly incomprehensible as she went. As she did that, she also turned away from him, just for good measure.

He smiled a little. She had always been stubborn like this. "Heartfilia, you have to wake up." He said more insistently while shaking her. Seeing as it didn't have any other effect than making her groan and lash out after him in irritation, he decided it was about time he used more drastic methods. "It's your own fault." He said with a smirk.

Opting to have some fun while she was still unable to stop him _and_ wake her up at the same time, he grabbed her bra-strop through her shirt and pulled it up. The mischievous smirk was still on his face as he released the strap and let it slap against her bare shoulder underneath.

It had the desired effect. "OW!" She shrieked as she shot right up, glaring at the guy who'd made her hurt so much. But that was only until she recognized him, then her face split into a giant smile. "Daisuki-chan!" The blonde exclaimed as she threw her arms around him.

Taken by surprise for a moment, he also wrapped his arms around the happy blonde. "Never thought I'd miss hearing that retarded nickname." He laughed to himself. But he had, he knew that now.

Lucy chuckled. "Of course you would, it's the best nickname you could ever wish for." She replied. Aomine pushed her back to could argue against that, but just as he was about to say the first word, it was made impossible by the blonde as she pulled at his cheeks. "Oh, look who's all grown up now~!" She said as if talking to a baby and pouting, though it was no secret she found this infinitely hilarious.

The blue haired guy dropped talking and just growled at the blonde. Finally he'd gotten enough since she didn't, grabbed both of her wrists and roughly pulled them off his now hurting cheeks. "What the hell, Heartfilia?"

She smirked at him smugly. "Payback." She said, gesturing to her bra-strop. It still hurt! "But it's true though. My little Daisuki-chan is closer to being a man now." She said, making her baby-voice at the last sentence. He really had grown though, maybe even more than the others. Especially his face seemed much older than the little cute one she'd last seen him with.

He grunted in annoyance and got up to his feet, towering far above the little blonde sitting on the roof. "Are you just gonna sit around all day or are you gonna get up?" He asked, offering her a hand to get up.

She smiled and took the hand, letting him almost pull her all the way up. It was only just now she noticed the strange place they were situated at. Looking around, she found they were at the very top of this building. "We're at the roof?" She asked him confusedly.

He nodded. "Yeah, the roof of Tōō Academy." He told her, sort of having a feeling of where this conversation would go.

She frowned a little. "What are you doing up here?" She asked. There really wasn't much to do up here and she could see the school was still active under them.

He sighed. Yep, he'd been right, he knew where this was going. Might as well postpone his doom as long as possible. He flashed her a grin. "Waking you up, obviously." He replied.

This made her narrow her eyes at him. Obviously just a bad excuse. What was he hiding? "Where is Sat-chan?" She continued to ask. She could only imaging that those two would be together as much as possible, that's what they always had done even in Teiko.

Aomine paused for a moment. "Uhh… With her girl-friends…?" He replied almost questioningly. In fact, in this very moment, she was probably watching practice as usual.

Now Lucy full out glared at him, having found out just why he was up here. "And why can I hear basketballs over there?" She asked almost angrily and pointed in the general direction from which the sounds came.

He sighed deeply. "Fuck."

 **Later~**

The Tōō team was in the middle of practice when suddenly some quite interesting shouts came from the hall. "Let go! That fucking hurts!" A voice they could all recognize as Aomine's yelled painfully.

"LANGUAGE!" Another voice replied, followed by a smack.

"OW!"

"Shut up! Tell me where the court is." The same voice, which they could now determine was female, replied. It seemed sort of calm on the outside, but with a looming danger of exploding in the depths of it.

"How the fuck can I shut up and tell you at the same ti- OW!" He yelled.

" _Tell me._ " The voice of a demon ordered him.

"It's right down there, you crazy bitch!" He yelled back at her. He was a very brave and very doomed soul indeed. "OW! Stop fucking doing that!" He yelled at his companion.

"I won't, dumbass. Man up!" The female voice replied, a tinge of demon still in her words.

"It fucking hurts, woman!" He retorted as he appeared in the entrance, walking in a painful way, seemingly having lowered himself to the height of the other person.

"Of course it does!" The female voice replied as hey both turned around, revealing the she-devil to be an otherwise harmless-looking, little, blonde girl holding the much taller guy by the ear. "Now go train you lazy dumbass!" She yelled at him as she threw him out of the court on which the entire team had stopped in favor of seeing what was going on. Especially one pinkette was watching the two people, more specifically the blonde, with wide, tearful, pink eyes.

Aomine grunted as he stumbled across the floor until he found his balance again. He whirled around to face the blonde angrily. "I practice whenever the fuck I want to!" He told her.

The blonde turned up the sweet smile, though the demon lurked right behind it. "I don't need to remind you what happens to people who bug me, do I?" She asked sweetly, while cracking her knuckles.

Aomine remembered the incident back at the festival during their camp the first year and gulped, slightly pale. He kept the visibility of his fright to a minimum though. "Damn crazy woman." He grunted and trudged towards a free basketball lying on the floor.

A guy with quite long, black hair and with his eyes constantly closed, smiled. "What an interesting development." He commented as the blue haired guy passed him by.

Aomine glared at him. "Don't you even dare thinking about it, Imayoshi." He growled at his captain.

Imayoshi only smiled wider. "Oh my, found a weak spot, did I?" He asked tauntingly.

Their conversation was cut short as the pinkette thawed out of the ice, which had kept her frozen on the spot, and charged right at the blonde, tears already streaming from her face. "Lucy-chan!" She yelled as she ran.

Lucy looked towards the pinkette, smiled and braced herself for impact. As expected, the other girl ran right into the blonde's embrace and made the both of them topple over. Of course, the blonde had it all under control and made sure to land so that she sat on the floor with the soon-to-be weeping girl in her lap. "Hi, Sat-chan." She calmly said.

"I missed you so much!" The girl said, not looking up from where she had her face buried in the crook of the blonde's neck. "Please don't just leave us like that again." She sobbed openly.

The blonde smiled a little, squeezing the crying girl. "I won't, I promise." She said although she knew she would probably have to at some point. Though hopefully not too soon.

Momoi pulled back, sniffing but having stopped shedding any more tears for now. "I'm glad you're back, Lucy-chan." She told the blonde softly.

The blonde smiled right back at her friend. "Yeah, I'm glad I am too." She said and gently brushed a few tears away from the pinkette's cheeks.

Of course, the touching moment was soon broken. Grabbing the collar of the pinkette's shirt, Aomine easily lifted her off the blonde. "I thought I told you not to do that." Momoi only stuck her tongue out in reply.

Meanwhile the guy with the black hair and closed eyes behind glasses made his way around the two childhood friends and towards the blonde, smiling at her. "So you're the person those to have been so heatedly arguing about." He more stated than anything else. He held a hand down to her as he introduced himself. "I'm Shoichi Imayoshi, captain of this team. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Although his snake-like smile sent shivers down her back, she smiled as she let herself be helped up for the second time that day. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you!" She introduced herself.

"Oi, Imayoshi. Hands off" Aomine growled at his captain, who only laughed at him in return.

"Hmph, I can't believe you'd willingly be friends with that guy." Lucy heard someone grunt behind her.

Turning around, she found a tall, blonde guy with caramel eyes staring almost angrily at her blue haired friend. "Aomine, you mean?" She asked, just for clarification's sake.

He nodded. "Yeah, Aomine." He said, sneering his name. "That lazy bastard never shows up for practice. I can count on one hand how many times he's shown up." He told her, crossing his arms. "It's infuriating!"

"U-uhm… I-I'm sorry I always f-fail a-at getting h-him here…!" A smaller boy with brown hair and big eyes apologized timidly. "E-even though we-we're in t-the s-same class."

The blonde guy looked down at the smaller guy with only a slight hint of annoyance. "It's not your fault that guy's such a jerk, Sakurai." He told the other guy.

It had no effect though. "I'm sorry I was born!" He exclaimed and bowed deeply by the hips in an almost ninety degree angle.

Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry he's caused you so many problems." She apologized, though she really could have done nothing about it. "I'm going to try to change it though." She added.

"There's nothing to be done, it's too late for him." The blonde guy told her.

She smiled at him. "Maybe it is, but I'm not the type who gives up on my friends just like that." She reassured him. That was just how Fairy Tail mages were.

The guy seized her up from down, then shook his head. "I don't get how someone like him is friends with someone like you." He muttered.

She shrugged. "Well, when you're friend with the Miracles, you don't just leave one out, it's all of them." She said and smiled. "Besides, they were all so cute back then!" She added.

"WHAT?!" The blonde guy yelled, not able to make any more of a sentence.

"Th-the Miracles?! C-cute?!" The one who'd been called Sakurai stammered, all flustered.

Once again, Imayoshi laughed thoroughly amused with this new character. "I never thought I'd hear that about our dear Aomine." He chuckled.

The sound of his name drew Aomine's attention from his coach, who he had been speaking to just a second ago, to his captain, a scowl evident on his face. "Whatever you're saying, Imayoshi, shut up."

The coach, a tall man with long, wavy, slightly purple hair and just as purple eyes, stepped up, cutting his conversation with Aomine short. "Practice is restarting, grab a ball." He ordered them all, not even having to shout out to gain their attention.

Momoi grabbed the blonde's wrist. "Come on, Lucy-chan! Let's watch from the benches like we always did!" She said excitedly, looking so much like the young girl she had known, as she was pulled to the benches the other girl had had in mind.

More or less as soon as they left the court, the team began to restart training, probably where they had left off, this time also with Aomine. Though it took one extra look from the blonde.

The two girls seated themselves side by side and watched them all running around, ball in hand. "So I'm guessing you're the manager here at Tōō as well?" She asked. That or she was their personal cheerleader. That was doubtful.

Momoi beamed and nodded. "Yep, that's right!" She confirmed. "Though it's a bit more advanced than it was back then." She added thoughtfully.

"Well, that's only natural. Like for Daisuki-chan and everyone else, the level's also gone up for you." She reasoned. Back at Ryoma, she was pretty sure they'd been found out more or less as soon as they'd mentioned they were from Teiko, thinking back on it now. It just wasn't as important back then as she imagined it was now.

"I guess that's about right." She agreed. "So what about you?" She asked, making the blonde look at her. "What happened?" She asked.

One corner of Lucy's mouth turned upwards, she'd expected that question to come at some point. "Ever since I ran away from home, my father had been sending me letters, ordering me to come back home. Shortly after I had read the first few of those, I simply just began storing them rather than reading them, knowing they'd all say the same." She explained.

This was a lie she had thought up and about so many times, it almost seemed like reality now.

"But the day before I 'disappeared', I decided to open one of the latest letters and read it. Rather than telling me to come home to be married off, he told me that he was actually very ill. Incurably so. And that was the letter he'd sent me a month before I read it." She told her. Seeing as Momoi remained quiet, she continued with her lie. "So of course I went back home to see how he was - he was my father after all - but he had already passed away when I returned… His last words to me, through the letters, were that no matter what, he had always loved me." She trailed off.

Her heart ached again, the way it had the last few times she'd thought of her father. She had really wished she could get the chance to say goodbye. Their relationship had been strained, sure, but in the end he was still her father and for that alone, he'd always have a place in her heart.

"I… I'm sorry for your loss." Momoi slowly said, clearly not sure if she should add any more questions or not, although she seemed to really want the answers to them. When Lucy gestured that she could, she braved it. "I know it was a grave loss for you but… Two years?" She carefully asked incredulously.

Lucy smiled. Momoi was a sharp one. "You're right, I didn't use two years on grieving alone." She confirmed. "The business was handed down to me, so I had to get everything under control again." She explained. That she knew could fill up those two years.

"Oh.. I see." The pinkette trailed off. It was always hard to figure out what to say in situations like these. You didn't want to sound like a broken record either.

The two girls sat in heavy silence and just watched the guys run around on the court in front of them. Not one to enjoy this kind of silence, the blonde spoke up. "So who are the two I spoke to earlier?" She asked, her eyes following the blonde and the brown haired guys.

"Oh, that's Kosuke Wakamatsu and Ryo Sakurai." She said, obviously happy to have the heavy cloud lifted. When she realized the blonde still didn't know which was which, she elaborated. "Sakurai is the brown haired one and Wakamatsu s the blonde one." She quickly clarified. "Oh, and the tall one over there is Yoshinori Susa."

Lucy nodded, glancing around at the players she'd been introduced to, hoping she could remember all these people. "Thank you." The likelihood she would remember all these people was very small. Speaking of remembering.. "Say, do you know what happened with Niji-kun and Haizaki after leaving Teiko?" She suddenly asked. If she didn't ask now, she would probably forget.

"Huh?" The pinkette said confusedly, not understanding where the blonde had gotten that from. "Niji-kun and Haizaki?" She didn't even recognize those two names at first.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I heard a bit about which schools everyone are going to from Ryo-kun, but he didn't know about those two." She explained. "So I thought that maybe you would know." Momoi had always been one for gossip, though not the bad kind, mind you, and knew a lot about a lot of people.

The pinkette nodded slowly, thinking back on what she knew. "Haizaki has moved to a school called Fukuda Sogo and will be participating in the Winter Cup. Though I don't get why you would be interested in him." She commented, eyeing Lucy, who just shrugged. "As for Niji-kun, he moved to America to take care of his ill father, who was to be treated over there. I don't know if he's back in Japan or still with his father over there." She explained and sent the blonde an apologetic look "I'm sorry, I don't know anything else."

Said blonde shook her head with a smile. "I got all I need thank you." She thanked her now only slightly younger friend. "You were of much more help than Ryo-kun anyway." She said with a wink. Kise had also been helpful, but Momoi always just knew more.

"Ki-chan, huh?" Momoi mumbled. "Have you met any of the others?" She asked curiously, though she was bummed that she hadn't been the first.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, Atsushi-kun, Ryo-kun, Shin-kun and Sei-kun. And you two of course." She said, counting backwards. She smiled. "I only need the Phantom Sixth man, your previous captain and Haizaki, and then I've met everyone."

"Huuh, you've met many of us already then." Momoi almost pouted. Why were they so far down the line? And they were even two, not just one like all the others.

The blonde could easily read what her friend was thinking - she was the kind to wear her feelings on her sleeves, after all. "I'm just saving the best for last." She reassured her, answering her unspoken question.

This made Momoi light up into a big smile right as the coach blew in his whistle. "We're done for the day, good job." He said and walked off, leaving the guys to clean up for themselves.

Lucy watched confusedly as he just left, not about to say anything to any of them. "Isn't he supposed to tell them what each of them need to focus on till next time?" She asked her pink haired friend.

Momoi shrugged. "They've all played basketball long enough to know if anything went wrong today and what it is." She said. "Besides, the things they deal with ow their weak spots, can't just be changed overnight, they've been working on them forever." She explained.

"I see." The blonde muttered. That was logical enough. They'd know what to work on without being told at this point. Thy were experienced enough to could do that.

"Oi, Heartfilia!" Aomine's voice called from the court, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Wanna be beaten to a pulp?" He asked, grinning as he threw a ball from one hand to the other and began spinning it on his finger.

She grinned right back at him. "You can give it a try." She taunted him and jumped off the seat, jogging towards the middle of the now almost deserted court, where Aomine was waiting for her. "Been a while since we did this last, eh?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. But it'll be different this time, I won't lose to you." He promised her. "Three balls?" He suggested.

She nodded. "Sounds good to me." Whoever got the second goal, won. She'd have to be careful, Aomine was the ace of the Miracles after all.

With that, Momoi got the ball and started the match by throwing it up in the air.

Although Lucy knew she probably wouldn't get the tipoff, she also knew Aomine and how he had played. Not everything could have changed about him.

And as expected, Aomine was the one who got the tipoff ball. He threw the ball to his other hand, the one further away from her, behind his back while he was still midair, keeping it out of her reach.

It was as he'd often done, play behind his back like that, so the blonde was prepared when he began dribbling, pushing it away and conquering it as her own with a laugh.

She only got to the three-point arc before he had caught up to her again. "Don't laugh so soon, Heartfilia." He taunted as he revealed just how long his arm-reach was as he came up in a defensive stance in front of her.

Remembering Kasamatsu's technique, the one Kise had used on him, she didn't speed down. Rather, she feinted to the right, then used her momentum to whirl around and spin across Aomine's defense, keeping the ball at her left, away from her opponent as she ran past him.

Taking only one more step forward to build up her speed, she pushed off the ground with both hands, moving up and over her head. As she reached the peak, she pushed the ball out of her hands and towards the basket.

And she would have scored if it wasn't because of him jumping in and taking it right before it hit the hoop. With a grin sent her way, he swiftly dribbled down the court. In less than a second, Lucy turned around and ran after him with a speed she only had because she ran around on sand and hills every second day.

Needless to say, she easily caught up with him. Right as he had with her a second ago, she came around to defend in front of him. However he hardly even seemed to register that as he suddenly just threw the ball with one hand landing a goal.

Now, without meaning to brag, Lucy could have taken that ball. See, it wasn't so much that is was a one-hand throw which flabbergasted her, it was because _he_ threw it. That kind of aggressive shooting was the norm with her friends at Earthland, she had never expected to be seeing it here. Which was why she couldn't take it. This time anyway.

"You're actually not half bad, Heartfilia." He commented as she went for the ball he had just scored.

She picked it up and turned around. "Of course I'm not." It seemed she would have no chance of winning if she didn't go all out against him. Besides, all things considered, it would be rude if she didn't. "Neither are you, Daisuki-chan~" She cooed, clearly annoying him with the tone.

Right as she wanted it to. With him angered, she set into motion, doing crossovers as she figured out what to do, taking it a bit slow to could read what he would do.

As he finally made a move, charging right at her, she responded. She went from 0 to 100 in less than a second, running at a pace even faster than the one she had used before. One even Aomine couldn't match.

So without any difficulties, she shot right past him, with no use of feints or anything of the like. The path to the net was entirely clear. Without slowing down, she sped to the goal behind him, jumping up when she'd crossed the arc and dunking the ball through the hoop.

With a smirk she landed safely on the ground again, brushing her hands off in each other. "I hope you're only going easy on me now, 'cause otherwise you won't stand a chance." She remarked confidently.

He raised a brow. "What makes you think I've been doing my best?" He asked her as he ran past her, some hidden emotions flickering in his eyes

They were once again separated by the midcourt line, this time with Aomine having the ball. The two set into motion at the same time, charging at each other. Aomine quickly feinted past Lucy, but she managed to push it out of his hands and claim it for her own in the process.

Continuing on to the goal again, she was sharply followed by the blue haired guy. The only way she could score was if she dunked, as she had before. If it left her hands, she had no doubt that that guy would take it. So when she had passed the arc once again, she pushed off the ground and raised her hands, in which she held the ball safely.

She didn't get very far before there was a pressure pushing the ball in the other direction - towards her. Before she could adjust to the opposition, the pressure tilted a little. Instead of being head on against her, it was a little bit to the left of her, easily pushing it out of her hands and away from the net she had been so close to scoring in just a moment ago.

As he had only needed to jump a little bit, because of his height, to reach her he was also the first one to land on the ground, giving him quite an ample advantage against her in the chase of the ball. When she had turned around and begun sprinting after him, he had just passed the midcourt.

But she reached and jumped just in time to catch his one-handed throw before it hit the backboard stopping it in its tracks. Figuring she'd saved it, her grip on the ball subconsciously lessened. This was a mistake, as Aomine had foreseen it and hit the ball right out of her hands and through the hoop, scoring the last goal for himself.

With that, they both landed on the floor more or less simultaneously. "Phew, that was a good match." He breathed out, a big grin on his face. He'd completely forgotten just how much fun it was to play with her.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, no doubt." She agreed, straightening her back. "So you finally beat me, eh Daisuki-chan?"

He nodded a confident grin on his face. "I finally did, Heartfilia."

 **Right, so that's that! Hope you enjoyed it! I personally have been looking forward to writing this out, this chapter's been running around in my head forever. And when I say that, I mean when Aomine found her on the roof and Lucy dragged him down to his team. Everything else… Well, I just came up with it as I wrote, I guess**

 **Anyway, thanks for your patience, my trip was great and all your reviews made me smile like an idiot at the airport, I'm pretty sure some people were staring weirdly at me. XD**

 **And, of course, thanks for following, favoriting, reviewing and reading! Chapters should be coming out more smoothly from now and forward, since vacation's over~**

 **~Line464d**


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

 **So, many figured that it would indeed be Kuroko this time, and you're absolutely right! Hope you enjoy!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nah, I don't own either Kuroko or Fairy Tail, not that I think you guys don't know by now.**

 **Earth~**

A young girl and an elder man, very similar in their appearances despite the age difference, were discussing tactics regarding the match they were soon going to be playing. Or, well.. That the team was soon going to play anyway. They had found out not too long ago that the team they were up against was going to be very, very tough to beat - they'd even lost to them once this year already. One of their strongest members had returned though, so their chances of winning certainly had risen. Though they had no idea how their ace was doing…

Anyway, they were just about to start practice for the last time before the Winter Cup's beginning. They were just missing a single member still.

Speaking of the devil… "KYAAAAAAA!" Their personal, cat-faced 'Jack of all Trades' came screaming out from the changing rooms like a little girl, only clad in his red boxers and white tank top, arms flailing wildly around him as he ran.

Quickly he ran around the tall, long and black haired guy, who was his childhood friend, using him as a wall between himself and whatever he was hiding from, shivering wildly.

Of course, his actions brought the attention of the entire team, and especially his captain, who was a glasses-wearing guy with short, black hair and right now, with a pissed expression on his face. "What is it this time, Koga?" He grunted as if this wasn't the first time this had happened.

The cat-faced guy turned, still shivering and shaking, to his captain, a wild look in his eyes. "T-th-there w-w-was a-a p-p-pe-pers-son i-in t-th-the ch-changin-ng ro-rooms…!" He said, barely understandable as he stammered so much, his grip tightening on his tall friend.

"What _kind_ of person?" Another guy with eyebrow-length, black hair and narrow, dark eyes asked, having also, like everyone else, seen the guy's terrified behavior and tuned into the conversation.

The guy turned his scared eyes to the narrow-eyed guy. "A-a-a g-girl." He said, sounding like it was the scariest thing in the world.

"The White Lady?" The narrow-eyed guy asked curiously, trying to remember the scariest ladies he'd heard of. The scared guy shook his head, though it was hard to differentiate from his shivering. "Bloody Mary?" He continued. Likewise, the other guy also continued shaking his head. "A witch?" Another shake of the head. "Then what?" He asked, having run out of ideas, being put on the spot like that.

"A-a-a b-bl-blon-nde, sl-sle-slee-epi-ping g-gi-girl!" He somehow managed to stammer out in his fright. Though he began shaking even more when he'd mentioned her.

The young girl groaned more than she sighed equally annoyed with the guy's antics. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" She grumbled loudly as she stomped towards the changing rooms, both angry with her idiotic team member and the fact that someone - girl or not - would take a nap out in the changing rooms at this time of the day. That and seeing how they had treated that Momoi when she came by, she figured it would be stupid to send anyone out to get the girl other than herself.

So, with that she burst through the door to the guys' changing rooms, looking around for the girl the scaredy-cat had mentioned. Blonde and sleeping. And right as he had described, in the corner of the room, a girl about her age was sleeping, curled up on herself, in the corner of the bench against the wall separating the baths from the benches. A little longer than shoulder-length blonde hair, an unfairly voluptuous figure and a peacefully sleeping face. Not to forget the whip and pouch hanging on her hip. Just who was this girl?

No matter who she was, she should not be sleeping here. So without any further ado, Riko approached her and lightly hit the girl's arm. "Wake up." She said firmly.

Surprisingly, the firm tone and the rough pat actually managed to wake the girl up instantly. With a little moan, the girl's big, brown eyes fluttered open. Which only made the not so blonde girl hate the blonde one even more. God wasn't fair in his distributions.

So, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the blonde menacingly. "You can't sleep in here." She stated sternly.

The blonde looked at the other girl in the room. It took a moment for her tired brain to register what she had just been told. "Oh, sorry." She said, gently rubbing one eye, waking up a little more from that. "Uh, sorry, where am I?" She asked the brown haired girl, having noticed she was in a changing room of some sort. She had an idea, but wanted to confirm it.

Said brown haired girl frowned at the more than strange girl, who uncurled and sat in an upright position like any normal person would. "You're in the guys' changing rooms…" She hesitantly answered, wondering how one could sleep somewhere without knowing where they were. "At Seirin High…" She added slowly afterwards, though surely the girl knew that much. Whoever she was.

"Ah." The blonde said, recognizing the name. With a smile, she got up from her seat and looked at the girl. "Thank you, uh…?" She trailed off, urging the girl to introduce herself.

Even more confused with the blonde's behavior, the brunette slowly introduced herself, not sure it was even the right thing to do. "Riko Aida." She said.

The blonde smiled and held out her hand to Aida. "Hello, Aida! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, but everyone just calls me Lucy." She told the other girl.

"Just… Just call me Riko, then." Aida, or Riko now, told her. Finally composing herself again, Riko crossed her arms under her chest. "I will have to ask you to please exit the changing rooms, you're… Disturbing one of my team members." She stated.

"Ah, yeah, of course." Lucy said. "Show me the way, Riko." She asked the girl.

The brunette shrugged lightly and nodded, turned around as she gesture for the blonde to follow her through the door leading straight to the court, which said blonde gladly did. Emerging on the other side, the blonde found she knew none of the faces she saw on the other side. Not a single one. But that was to be expected, knowing the one she was looking for.

Though she soon noticed all attention was on Riko and herself as they stepped out of the rooms. That and that one guy with very cat-like facial features was hiding behind a much taller guy with long enough, black hair to could cover his eyes, the cat-like guy with fear written all over him and his shaking figure.

"Man up, Koga, or your program will be doubled." Riko warned, seemingly talking to the scaredy-cat, who instantly obeyed orders and stood straight, releasing the other guy. Though he still couldn't stop his shaking.

The tall guy with the glasses sighed and put three fingers to his forehead in what seemed to be some sort of disappointment. "You were afraid of _her_?" He asked the cat-faced guy incredulously.

"That's not surprising." A not so deep, but male voice said right beside the glassed guy. "Lucy can be a little scary." A little - at least in comparison to everyone else - guy with bright, sky-blue hair and big deep sea-blue eyes commented, a somewhat blank expression on his face.

Lucy lit up like a candle. "Kuro-kun!" She almost squealed, recognizing the boy she knew, the one she had expected to see here. Within moments, she'd erased the distance between her and her friend, her arms already around the boy, who seemed to be only a few centimeters taller than her.

Awkwardly sort of just receiving the hug, having no idea what to do with himself, Kuroko just let the breath be squeezed out of him. "Yeah, it has been a while." He simply replied, giving her a little pat on the back, feeling like he had to do something at least.

"Man, why does he always get the woman?" The one with sharp, narrow eyes asked, making a little wordplay now he was at it too. But he meant it, not only did the guy get this blonde woman, he also had the pink haired one from Tōō. How did the little boy do it?

"I don't know, but it's not fair." The glassed one commented, his arms crossed and a deflated look on his annoyed face. "And look at those-" He was cut off from what he was about to say, when he was roughly patted on the back by an even taller guy with light brown, spiky hair and a friendly face.

The friendly-looking guy smiled widely. "Oh, don't be so pessimistic, you'll find someone someday too." He promised his captain.

Of course, the black haired captain would have none of it. "None of your business!" He yelled as his teammate and friend, dating way back.

Meanwhile, Lucy broke off from the one-sided hug and smiled widely at the barely-taller-than-herself boy. Truly, Kuroko had hardly changed appearance-wise, forgetting his height difference. His playing style probably hadn't changed much either, just gotten better.

"So, uh… Who are you?" The tall, friendly guy with light brown hair asked the blonde, scratching his head under the hair confusedly.

Lucy looked around at all the faces staring at herself and Kuroko, realizing that this all was a very awkward scene. Especially for them. So, with an apologetic smile, she turned to them. "Ah, sorry, I completely forgot! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, just call me Lucy, nice to meet you all!" She said and bowed her head just slightly.

Kuroko, knowing what his teammates actually meant with the question, answered. "She is a friend of the Miracles and I, disappeared two years ago." He curtly explained, getting a nod from the blonde as well.

"Friend of the Miracles?" The glassed captain repeated, surprised. He didn't know those guys had a common friend. Well, honestly he didn't know much about them all in general, but still.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, it's true." She confirmed for any who should be in doubt.

Riko, curious but wary as she was, decided to scan the blonde girl. And what she found… "Dad, you have to take a look at her." She muttered to her father implicitly and he too took at the young blonde before him.

He, in all his time as a trainer, had never seen anything like this. Not only were her numbers higher, much higher than what you would expect just from looking at her, they were also higher than even the most fit people he knew. And they were based in such a strange way, at least for a young girl like her. They were balanced and allocated in a way fitting for someone who seriously fought people. A mix of street fighting and something else. To have this physique, you'd have to keep it up every day all day.

As if that wasn't strange enough, especially for a girl her age, who would have so many other things on her mind, she had one more. She had one extra number, hovering around in the air. He had no idea what it was for in the slightest. And right before his eyes, it rose one number.

"What… Who is this girl?" He asked himself more than he asked his daughter.

"So, you're a friend of Kuroko's? Never knew he had one!" The cat-faced guy asked excitedly, seemingly completely over the fright he'd gotten before. Like, completely. Like he'd never had it in the first place. "I'm Shinji Koganei, Seirin's very own Jack of all Trades!" He introduced himself.

"And Master of None." The narrow eyed guy added behind him.

Which, of course, riled the guy up just a bit. "Rude!" He called out to his other teammate. Turning to Lucy with a slightly irritated expression, though she could also see that it was soon going to be forgotten. "That annoying guy is Shun Izuki, just ignore him completely." He advised.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure." She said, looking up at Izuki, who she got a wave from. Both knew her words were just to please Koganei. Well, everyone, probably also Koganei, knew that. Something went off in her mind though… Where had she heard that name before?

"Wait, aren't you the one sent from Teiko two years back?" The glassed guy asked her. When he only got a confused look from the blonde, he elaborated. "To Ryoma Middle School, you and a pink haired girl came to scout our team, probably, ended up playing after practice." He explained.

She nodded as she realized where she had heard Izuki's name before. "Yeah, that's right!" Now she looked, she could also recognize his and Izuki's face again. "You're Junpei Hyuuga, right?" She asked, easily remembering his name. After all, it hadn't been all that long time ago.

He nodded. "Yeah, that's me." He confirmed as the two shook hands. "I hope you're not on the same task as you were back then." He then added.

She smiled and shook her head. "No, not quite." She promised him. Still getting a skeptical look from the captain of this team, she figured she'd have to reason it. "I can't quite choose between the Miracles and Kuroko after all - I don't play favorites." She explained. "Really, I'm just curious to see where and who everyone is around." She told him honestly, seeing acceptance and a sort of understanding on his face.

The tall guy with the light brown hair put a hand on Hyuuga's shoulder, with a bright smile. One which could rival her own. "There's no need to be so suspicious of a pretty young girl like her, Junpei." Turning the smile to the blonde, he stuck his gigantic hand out to her. She was not lying when she said it was at the size of both Elfman and Murasakibara. What was with all these giants? "I'm Kiyoshi Teppei, it's always interesting to meet new people!" He said, all cheery-like.

Though she felt like she was being thoroughly and closely studied by him, she smiled and took his hand. Wasn't she doing the same anyway? "Yeah, it is."

Hyuuga, feeling like exploiting Teppei's only and biggest weakness, his unfounded modesty towards his two titles, did just that. "Also known as the Iron Heart, one of the Uncrowned Kings." He said, a slight smirk having found its place to his mouth.

The tall guy almost glared at his friend. "Why do you always have to do that?" He asked Hyuuga. This really wasn't the first time this had happened, after all.

"Because I find it entertaining." The captain of Seirin simply replied.

Meanwhile, the blonde found herself confused as hell. Iron Heart? Uncrowned Kings? These were terms she hadn't even heard before now. "Uncrowned Kings?" She asked, feeling that that was an overall title of a group of people, whereas 'Iron Heart' was Teppei's personal title.

"You don't know?" Koganei asked her, surprised at this revelation. Apparently.

She nodded. "Well, I haven't been around for a couple of years, so no, I don't." She reasoned.

Riko felt it was time to step in here and explain. Just so they could get that out of the way and continue with training. All this chatting could wait till afterwards. "The Uncrowned Kings are five people at just about the Miracles' level, just a little bit under. If it hadn't been because of the Miracles, these guys would have been the Miracles of this generation. That, and the Miracles got a lot more attention as they were on the same time, whereas the Uncrowned Kings have played against each other as rivals. Alas, they were overshadowed by the Miracles." She curtly explained.

"I see…" She looked up at Teppei. "Though with those two titles you've got, you guys seem to not have been completely forgotten by the masses." She commented.

"Probably for the best, this guy couldn't take any more attention that he's already got." Hyuuga commented, jabbing a finger at Teppei. "He'd have a mental breakdown."

While Lucy confusedly tried to understand what the captain was hinting at, Riko ordered for practice to begin and Lucy out on the benches, to watch and wait till they were done. She wasn't the kind to keep silent around people for too long, though.

Turning to the middle aged man standing next to the girl, she smiled. "You must be the coach of Seirin, right?" She asked for confirmation. And then Riko must be the manager, like Momoi.

They both turned to her, the man shaking his head. "No, I am their coach." Riko answered for her. "Just brought my dad to help me out for the Winter Cup, he's more experienced than I am." She reasoned.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said a little embarrassedly, having made such a mistake. After all, all the other teams had a coach at that age… Was it so strange to expect the same thing here?

"It's an honest mistake, don't worry." He man said, waving his hand in front of his face dismissively. "I'm Kagetora Aida, Riko's dad. Nice to meet you." He quickly introduced himself.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, nice to meet you too." She said. Looking out at the team doing their practice, it just kind of felt like something was off. That's when she remembered what Kise had told her. "Say, isn't Kagami missing?" She voiced her thoughts out loud.

Looking surprised, the young coach of the team nodded. "Yeah… Yeah he is." She confirmed, wondering how the blonde knew of their ace, and figuring she must have heard it from some other team, she explained. "He went back to America to train for the Winter Cup with his personal trainer or something. Should be back sometime tomorrow." She explained. Well, that was what she'd been told anyway. "I hope.. If he isn't, his schedule will be quadrupled..!" The young girl said with a fire burning right behind her. Shed follow through with her threat, that was for sure.

Lucy was just glad Capricorn didn't do that. Not that there was space to cram anything more into her days at Earthland currently. "I'm sure he'll show up." She promised her, not having much doubt in her mind about that. At least not if he knew what was possibly in store for him.

She had been looking forward to meeting the guy though, see who he was. Who Kuroko was so close friends with. Who the player she would maybe be putting her bets on was. She was curious, it was simple as that.

Well, she was curious about a lot of things. Who Sabertooth was, what the Grand Magic Games would be like, who was up against who during the Winter Cup, where Nijimura was, what was going on between the Miracles and Kuroko, what happened after she left, what Midorima had meant with his words of advice.

" _You know, Princess. That's a hard one to figure out by yourself."_ She heard Loke's voice ring and echo in her mind.

" _Loke?_ " She replied, again with her thoughts, kind of figuring she'd get a lot of odd looks from the two Aidas if she began speaking to what to them seemed like herself - or an invisible friend.

" _Yes, my Princess, I have come to your aid!"_ He replied. Though she couldn't see it, she could clearly imagine the grand smile he was wearing right in this moment.

" _What do you mean? What do I need help with?"_ She asked confusedly, not getting what he was trying to tell her.

" _What Midorima meant, of course! Well, you'd figure it out eventually, but time is of the essence."_ He said with a laugh. _"What do you think he meant when he said you have to accept them all?"_ Loke started out.

Lucy frowned internally. " _Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out._ " She told him, slightly exasperated. He said himself she'd figure it out by herself, so why did he feel the need to speed it up now? Not that she didn't want to figure it out.

" _Think about it a little, Princess. What could he be meaning with it?"_ The Lion Spirit pushed on, clearly trying to get something out of her. Something she already knew, if she knew him and herself right.

" _Well.._ " She trailed off, wrecking her mind to find what he was fishing for. " _They're… They've all grown up…_ " She trailed off again. " _I guess he wants me to accept that?_ " She said questioningly.

" _I'd say that sounds like a part of it. Any more you can think of?"_ He asked, guiding her towards getting every card out on the table.

" _Uh…_ " She mumbled as she thought about it. " _They changed during those two years, personality-wise, appearance-wise, playing-wise."_ She told one of her most trusted Spirits. " _They're not like the young boys I knew before Tenrou.."_ She admitted.

" _Ah, there we have it."_ He said, having got her to almost directly say out loud what Midorima wanted her to do. He also knew that if she followed his advice, everything would be much easier for her. He wasn't about to tell her directly what Midorima wanted her to do though, she had to figure it out herself. He was just there to speed up the process a little.

" _Have what?"_ She asked, feeling a little out of the loop somehow.

" _What you just said. You already know the answer. You just have to think, use that bright head of yours, Princess."_ He told her, fully confident she'd get to her answer.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at him. Clearly he wasn't about to make this easy for her. What did he mean now? Her mind worked on overtime as she tried to figure the Lion out. He'd only reacted when she'd said her last sentence… 'They're not like the young boys I knew before Tenrou..'. Her own voice rang in her head.

She looked up with understanding shining in her eyes just as Hyuuga scored a goal, as if that was what had made her understand what the Spirit meant. " _I understand now…"_ She muttered in her mind, half to herself and half to her Spirit. " _I keep comparing them to who they were two years ago."_ She said.

" _Exactly!"_ Loke said, a grand smile in his voice as he confirmed her suspicions. " _Midorima probably wants you to look at them all with a new perspective, not with the glasses of the past."_ He confirmed for her.

Lucy smiled softly to herself, disguising it as being directed at her blue haired friend, who failed to land the ball in the net. " _Yeah, it makes sense._ " She commented. It was exactly what she had done these last few days, constantly comparing them to the small boys she had once known.

" _Oh, and, before I leave, remember that they have grown up in every way._ " He told her. " _If they ever bother you, I'll be coming to your protection immediately!"_ He promised her, his flirtatious tone turned to the top.

Well, this was a strange thing to say. " _Wait, what? What do you mean, Loke?"_ She asked him confusedly. He was acting strange. Did he have something against them?

" _They're not kids any longer, Princess, they're men. Watch out for yourself."_ Was all he said as she felt his presence leave her mind. She was left flabbergasted at his implication. Did he really mean what she thought he meant? She almost blushed at the thought of what he was thinking of. He couldn't be serious about this, could he?

She was broken away from where her thoughts were taken her as Riko blew in her whistle, marking the end of practice, and showing Lucy exactly how much time had actually passed while she'd spoken with Loke, figuring Midorima and one of many mysteries out.

She saw Kuroko come running towards her, a smile on her face as he approached. "I see you're still sticking to your old way of playing." She commented, drawing conclusions from his inability to score earlier in one of the rare moments she actually paid a bit of attention to what was going on in front of her. It was also a style which complemented his personality perfectly

He nodded. "Yes, I am." He confirmed, stopping up in front of her. "You've returned." He stated obviously as the rest of his team continued to the changing rooms.

She nodded. "Yep, yep I am." She agreed, readying herself to spill the whole story of why she had to leave those two years ago, why she hadn't said anything and why she'd stayed away for all of those two years.

However, she didn't have to. "I see. I'm glad you're back." Kuroko simply said, not going to do any snooping on the girl. He got the feeling she wouldn't like him doing that much. "Have you met any of the others yet?" He asked her.

She nodded with a smile, happy it seemed she wouldn't have to explain everything - especially since it was a lie. "Yeah, all five Miracles so far. Only missing Niji-kun and Haizaki." She explained as she had to Momoi.

And just like Momoi… "You shouldn't see Haizaki." He told her. Though the words would sound monotone to most, a certainty lay right under them. He meant that.

Lucy furrowed her brows. "Sat-chan and Ryo-kun also told me that… Is he really that bad?" She asked. Sure, he'd not been pleasant to be around like for example Kuroko had, but he would have matured as well by now, surely.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. "I haven't met or talked to him since he left, but I did see him many times on Teiko." He told her. "It seemed he got worse." He explained.

She sighed. All the more reason to see for herself if that was really true. "I see." Like many other things concerning Earth, she didn't have much of a choice as to whether she'd meet up with him or not. Lightening up a little, she decided on another topic. "So, who're you playing against in the first match during the Winter Cup?" She asked him, just to get a new topic up in their conversation. "Anyone I know?"

"Aomine, Tōō Academy. They're our opponent tomorrow." He told her curtly.

"Ah, yeah, that's right. It's tomorrow…" She said. Keeping track of days was insanely difficult when you lived in two different worlds sometimes. That's when his words actually registered. "Wait, what?! You're against Tōō? In your first match?" She kept asking, getting nothing but nods from her friend. "That's going to be tough.." She commented, having tested out Aomine's strength herself just yesterday.

He nodded. "Yes, we lost to them just a month ago." He told her, not even flinching, reacting or doing anything as he told her that. As if it didn't bother him in the least that they'd lost to them before.

"And… You're not worried this might be a repeat of that?" She asked him slowly. She would if Fairy Tail - including herself - were going to be fighting someone they'd lost to not long ago. She'd be very worried. Of course, the stakes were also different, but still.

He shrugged. "We did not have Teppei back then, and Kagami is training intensely at America. So are we." He told her. "I'm sure we can beat them." He told her confidently, though his expression didn't portray this feeling of his at all.

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure you can." She agreed. Her plan depended on it, her plan to bring them all together, erase this hostility between them. Rivalry was completely fine, hostility was not. And hostility was what she felt.

Completely changing topic, but acting as if it was what they had been speaking of all the time, Kuroko spoke. "You know for certain that Nijimura is back from America?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "Not really, but I have a feeling he is." She said, not lying. She was looking forward to meeting him again too.

Something seemed to turn on in the young boy's mind. "You haven't heard of Kozo-san yet, have you?" He asked her suddenly. Clearly a master of changing topics today.

Lucy frowned, the alarm clocks immediately turning on in her mind with his words. "No, did something happen?" She asked him worriedly, a thousand possibilities and worst-cases running through her head all at once.

"Sometime during the second year, he fell ill. No one knows what's wrong with him, just that something's wrong." He told her, his brows pulled together in worry, just by watching the blonde. He knew she cared about the former Head Coach a lot, they had a strangely strong bond.

Realization dawned on her at his words. The magic. There was no magic at Earth, and now all had disappeared from him, slowly killing him. Earthlanders couldn't survive without magic in their system, it was just impossible. He was dying.

She looked at the blue haired guy with wide, terrified eyes, terrified for the wellbeing of the Shirogane, the only other Earthlander she knew on this Earth. "Where is he now?!" She almost shrieked right into his face. She had no time whatsoever to waste. None at all.

"At the hospital." He said, where else could the man be?

"Thanks!" She told him, already running towards the exit, at a frantic hunt for the hospital.

He frowned. She probably didn't even know where the hospital was, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with the ridiculous speed she was going at, not even for a second.

"What'd you do to make her run away from her like that, Kuroko?" He was questioned as the blonde burst right through the doors leading to the exit, somehow knowing where they were.

Kuroko just watched the abused door being left open, letting him see her retreating back just a little longer. "I told her the truth." Was all he replied.

 **All right, here we go~  
Next chapter will be exciting, eh?**

 **Yes, before you say anything, I know. Kuroko was in all likelihood a little out of character during their little conversation at the end, though I'd say he was straightforward as always, no? Guess I've just been away from Kuroko too long XD**

 **Hope you can wait till next week (I personally can't)and thank you very much for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing! Keep it up guys, you're awesome!**

 **~ Line464d**


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 **Sooo~ Here we are again!  
Surprisingly few commented about Kozo's fate and that one extra stat of Lucy's. One'll be found out this chapter, that much I can reveal. **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yeah… You guessed it, I still don't own either Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. **

**Earth~**

Lucy burst straight through the door going from the court to the fields and grounds of the school, hardly even noticing any of the students there, as she pushed herself forward. She was too worried about the former head coach of Teiko to notice much of what was going on around her and just how fast she was actually going. She was going much faster then what was clever, given so many people were still at the school and she had to evade every single one of them.

But she didn't give a crap. Right now, she could still weave her way through the crowd, so it should be fine.

So with not so very much regard to the people around her, she sped right past them, through the gates and out on the streets, running in the direction her intuition took her, actually not having much of an idea as to where she should be going to reach the hospital.

With the adrenaline pumping in her body and ears, none of her senses picked up on the people walking around on the streets, looking back at her with irritated looks as she ran past them, bumping into many of them. Her usual manners were gone as something alike panic reigned supreme in her mind.

It was first after she'd hit the 10-minute-mark of running around, having no idea where she was going, that reason returned to her. Deciding on asking the first person she could find, she had just reached an empty street. With fortune on her side, she saw two on their bikes, with their backs to her. One with short, spiky black hair and the other with longer, also black hair.

"Excuse me!" She called out, running faster to could catch up to the both of them. "Sorry, can you two tell me where the hospital is?" She asked, right at the two's hind wheels.

They both turned to her, but the one with spiky hair covered the one with longer hair, hiding his face from view. Though the spiky haired one gave her a strange look, before answering. "Sure, which one are you looking for?" He asked, coming to a halt. She wasn't even aware there were more than one hospital here…

As the spiky haired guy had stopped up quicker than his friend, the other one was suddenly also revealed. Both of their faces rang a bell in her mind, but it was still shrouded in darkness as to exactly who the two were.

Though judging from the one with longer hair's expression, he'd at least seen and maybe even met her before. His eyes had widened impossibly much. "L-Lucy?" He seemed to stammer incredulously, seeing her there, as if she was a ghost.

She stared at the guy. Something about him really made something in her mind scream at her that she knew this guy. The slightly narrowed eyes, the long, completely straight black hair, which just about reached his gray eyes, the slender but strong figure of his… Wait, no, it couldn't be…?!

"Lucy?" The one with spiky hair repeated, almost as if tasting her name in his mind. Then something went on in his head. "Right, she was the one with you and those brats back during Middle school!" He said, confirming the blonde's suspicions. "I remember that!"

Lucy's eyes had widened as well, though not as much as the other guy's. "You're… Nijimura, is that you?" She asked, barely resisting the urge to squint her eyes to could see better, completely forgetting to use her little nickname for him. He seemed so different, yet the same, all at the same time. It was confusing!

He nodded. "Yeah…" He said slowly, almost hesitantly as he stepped down from the bike's seat, standing on both feet, leaning forward with both arms resting across the handlebars. "When did you return?" He asked her.

She smiled. "A little under a week ago." She told him. "What about you? You went to America with your father, didn't you?" She asked him worriedly. "Is he all right?"

With a little smile tugging at his lips - both because his friend was getting increasingly uncomfortable, being put in the middle of their conversation like that, and because those runts were so talkative. Not to mention he finally got to see her again. "Yeah, we both got back a few months ago. He's completely fresh and healthy now." He reassured her.

"Speaking of sick people, you were going to the hospital, weren't you?" The spiky haired friend, whose name she still couldn't remember - asked, urging her to explain further about where she was going.

Once again, Lucy went rigid, remembering where she was going and who she was going to see. "Right! How could I forget?!" She asked herself, slamming her forehead with her palm. "Sorry, I really got to go!" She said, almost setting off into a run again, running in a random direction.

"Wait, Lucy!" Nijimura called out, just as she had taken the first step, effectively stopping her process forward. "You don't even know where you're going, do you?" He asked her.

She sighed where she stood. "No, I don't. But I just have to get there…" She replied, muttering the last part to herself. That she had to, no matter what. Preferably today too, as the Winter Cup was starting tomorrow… She probably wouldn't have much time with that going on. It had to be today. Besides, she had a bad feeling about it all.

The former captain of Teiko, nodded. "You go ahead and head home, Shinta." He said, finally revealing to her who this guy was. It was the former captain of Ryoma, Kureto Shinta.

Shinta nodded understandingly, waving to the both of them as he rode off, leaving the two alone.

Nijimura sat back up on his bike and patted the luggage rack behind his seat. "Come on, I'll take you to him." He said with a knowing look in his eyes. He knew exactly where she was headed.

She smiled and nodded, knowing he knew who she had been looking around for. So, though she had yet to sit on the back of a bike like that, she carefully placed herself on the bike behind him, with her feet dangling on the side. Like a princess always did on her horse in her big dresses. That way, she could both grad a hold of her metallic seat and a little metal handle-like feature under his seat.

Getting comfortable, she nodded to her current driver, telling him she was ready. "Please hurry, Niji-kun." She begged him just before he set off. "But thank you, I really appreciate your help."

"Will do." He promised her with a little smile, standing on the pedals to start off with a high enough speed. "So who did you hear it from?" He asked her when he'd settled on a good speed and sat back down on the seat again.

Not sure if she was comfortable with this way of transportation yet, her grip tightened a bit on what she was holding on to. "I heard it from Kuro-kun just now." She told him.

He chuckled as they raced off on the two-wheeled vehicle. "And then you ran off without even asking which hospital he was in." He concluded amusedly. She sure hadn't changed much in that regard. Really, she hadn't changed in the slightest, from what he remembered.

She smiled, a little embarrassed that she'd just thoughtlessly dashed like she had, instead of being a bit rational and at least ask if he knew which direction she should head off to. "Yeah… I did." She admitted, giggling a little herself. She would have if it was about anything else, but if it was about her friends and family, her mind turned off. Another proof of this was during that festival, when those disgusting men began threatening Aomine. Her mind went blank and she beat them up like a ferocious animal.

Nijimura looked back at her over his shoulder, the smile glinting in his eye. She immediately sent a smile straight back at him, which made him quickly turn his attention on the road in front of him again.

Here he had been trying to get over this girl he had been so taken with for a little under a year, figuring it was nothing more than a little boy finally seeing a grown woman for the first time. Like a student falling for his or her teacher. That was what he had thought it was. Something fleeting, you know?

The sight of her smiling so brightly at him again, the exact smile which had made him fall for her in the first place, her golden hair waving and moving gently in the wind, her soft eyes swimming with so many emotions. It did many things, but definitely not help his situation.

He cleared his throat a little, both to push himself out of his thoughts and to catch her attention. "So.. They say they have no idea what's going on with Kozo… But you know, don't you?" He asked her, having a strange feeling she did.

Lucy looked down at the passing road. That was right, she hadn't told Nijimura of how the lack of magic affected their lifespans. He wouldn't be taking this well… "Yeah, I do." She said, getting a look from Nijimura telling her to continue. "It's… Well, it's not really an illness, not even in our world. What's happening to him isn't something which would naturally happen there…" She trailed off. Magic deficiency could only be the cause of death if someone had a magic which could drain someone else's magic. Otherwise you had to buy some tool from the magic shop.

The other guy looked at her confusedly, not sure he understood what she was getting at. "Lucy, stop beating around the bush. Just tell me." He pleaded her with his eyes. He'd always felt like she kept something quite heavy from him, now he felt like she was about to reveal that to him.

She sighed. He was right, she was beating around the bush, like she always did with these topics. "There's not enough magic on Earth for us to could survive a whole lifetime here." She told him frankly. "Slowly our magic capacity will deplete as it isn't supported with enough magic. And… Without magic, we die." She summed up shortly.

Though he wanted to slam the breaks and face her entirely, he knew she wouldn't be happy about that _and_ they'd both fall off the bike with the strange balance of weight. So he didn't. Instead he glanced back shortly, catching her chocolate eyes with his own for a moment, before looking forward again, forcing himself to keep the pace. "I wish you would have told me sooner…" He trailed off. "So that's what you expect is going on with Kozo right now?" He asked her.

She nodded, feeling the disappointment oozing from him. She understood why he was feeling like this… She just hoped he understood her reason for not telling him too. "Yeah, I do. It would make sense." She said.

"I see…" He said as he tried to come to terms with it. "Then I guess we should hurry." He muttered mostly to himself, setting the speed up a little. He'd visited the former Head Coach a few times after his return, so he knew which way to go.

After half a minute of silence with both of them brooding at the news of the situation, the blonde couldn't take it any longer. "So are you still playing basketball?" She asked him, just to talk of something.

He nodded, glad with the change of topic to could take his mind elsewhere. "Yep, I am." He confirmed. "With Shinta, the guy from before, in Meisei High." He told her.

She looked up at his back as he kept at bringing her to her destination, still eternally grateful, as she knew she'd never have arrived if she'd just be searching around for herself. "Oh? Are you guys in the Winter Cup?" She asked him curiously. Would everyone be participating in the Winter Cup? It'd be a funny coincidence. And maybe not so much of a coincidence after all.

He shook his head, not looking back at her. "My team qualified for the Winter Cup in the Interhighs, that was before I joined. But then in the qualifiers for the Winter Cup, we lost against a team from the school Kirisaki Daichi and didn't get any further." He said with a slight pull of his shoulders. "It's a shame, but we'll do it next year." He said confidently.

Lucy smiled and nodded. "I'm cheering for you!" She reassured him. Unfortunately she would have to cheer for at least six other teams as well. If she even stayed here so long.

He smiled back at her. "Thanks." He said. No longer than a minute later, they arrived at the tall, white building which nothing less than screamed hospital, from what she had heard about those buildings anyway.

Nijimura sped down and steadied the bike as Lucy got off, jumping off himself and parking his bike beside the others. With that they both went inside, through the entrance. The nurse at the reception smiled as she recognized the guy. "Oh, Nijimura-san. Have you come to see Shirogane-san?" She asked softly from behind the counter, her wrinkly eyes lighting up a little as she saw the blonde with him. "Oh, who is this young lady?" She asked with a glint in her eyes.

The young teen greeted the nurse and affirmed her question. "Yeah. This is Lucy Heartfilia, an acquaintance of his." He introduced the blonde, who waved sweetly at the nurse. "He's still in room 103, right?" He asked her, to which he got a nod.

The two hurried up the staircase and headed for the room they'd been directed to. They exchanged gazes swiftly before carefully pushing the door to his room open.

Inside was a completely naked and cold, white room. Perfectly squared with a bed in the middle, a little table and a pair of chairs lined up against the wall with three equally big windows with equally white curtains, a single black TV on the opposite wall of the bed, letting the patient have something to do. Next to the bed was an entirely ordinary white-painted wooden table, which could be pulled over to the bed, so that a 'hidden' table could be pulled out over the bed for the patient. Next to the door was a faucet with a few cupboards above and beside it. On the other side of the door, a wardrobe. Seemingly.

Cold and neutral. Nothing even halfheartedly resembling the man, who was lying in the bed, being taken care of by another nurse, who looked up at them and smiled as they entered. "It seems you have guests, Kozo-san." She told him, to which the man reacted with a grunt of sorts, turning to them in his bed when the door closed behind Nijimura.

From where they stood by the door, Lucy couldn't see the man who had helped her so much fitting in and informing her of Earth. Someone she cared about as much as she did her own team. On his deathbed…

The nurse smiled at Kozo. "I will be taking my leave now." She said and moved around the bed, towards the two teens. With a tender look in her eyes, she gently placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder as she passed them. "Call if there is anything you need." She said in a low voice so only the two young people caught it.

The blonde didn't hear her anyway though, she slowly, carefully moved towards the bed, afraid of what she would see, but at the same time wanting to more than anything else. She walked slowly towards the bed, everything else going blurry around her.

After an eternity, not daring to move faster, she could see the man she cared so deeply for. He seemed to have gained twenty years on him since then. His skin was wrinkly and leathery, but oh so pale, sticking to his thin and frail body, which was half hidden under the covers. Even so, it was clear he had lost so much more weight than he should have. His cheeks looked hollow, almost like a ghost. His hair was much thinner and started much later up on his head, ghostly white, like the pillow under it. His eyes had sunk deeply into his skull, you could almost see the skull through the many wrinkles.

He looked like death himself. The only thing showing life was his dark eyes, which were focused on her.

She didn't realize she was crying before a drop landed on the floor of the silent room, almost reverberating in the silence. She could not stop these tears, they had a mind of their own. She didn't want to either.

His eyes lit up as she came to stand next to the bed, finally recognizing her. "Lu… Cy…" He croaked with his old and rusty voice, almost as if it hadn't been used for a long time. It probably hadn't. His breathing was shallow and hard.

"Kozo." She said with a trembling and teary voice. He began lifting his one hand a little and she immediately cupped it with both of hers, gently but tightly. Their hands were shaking, but if it was her or him, she didn't know. "Oh, Kozo. I'm so sorry." She told him, closing her eyes and bringing his too thin hand up to her forehead. It was too cold. She was sorry she couldn't have come earlier, sorry she couldn't have saved him. If only she could do something about this.

She got a dismissive sound from the old man and opened her eyes as he rustled with something. Something metal. She watched as two silver keys came into her blurry sight, which only got even blurrier at the sight of them. Angelis and Daemon.

None of them said anything as he slowly and shakily moved to push the two keys into her hand. "I want… You… To have them." He told her, panting with the difficulty of breathing and speaking at the same time.

She could barely see anything as she tried to push them back into his hand again. "Kozo, I can't." She said with a barely understandable voice, even to herself. They belonged to him and his family, not her.

He slowly shook his head, looking at her with determination as he left the keys in her hand. "Only… You, Lucy." He told her croakily, getting the message across.

The blonde smiled through her tears, letting her fingers wrap around the two precious items gently. It was the biggest honor he could give her, letting her take care of his keys.

Not trusting her voice, she leaned down and hugged him as well as she could. His thin hand rested on her side, reciprocating the hug. She felt the sobs force their way through her as her head rested beside his, letting her more easily hear his wheezing breath. They had already gotten worse. It only made her heart ache with every beat. She couldn't lose this man now. Her heart wouldn't be able to take it.

Taking a deep breath, Kozo spoke again. "Thank you… Lucy… Alteria Shirogane… Heartfilia.." He whispered only barely loud enough for her to hear.

She froze in her position. Lucy Alteria Shirogane Heartfilia. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, her mind knowing what he meant, but her heart not able to work as fast.

His daughter… His and Hinata's daughter. It was her mother. Layla Alteria Shirogane Heartfilia. She was the daughter who had disappeared and fallen in love with a man on Earthland. And Lucy was their granddaughter, he was her grandfather.

Her mind returned to the present as she suddenly felt Kozo's hand fall from her side and his chest go still under her, the sound of his wheezing breaths disappearing and his head falling to the side.

She carefully, fearfully pushed back from the hug and looked at him with wide, terrified eyes brimming with tears she couldn't hold back. She looked down at him and saw his eyes glazed over, staring out at nothing. His chest didn't move, he didn't move.

Her tears welled out of her eyes like waterfalls and her sight blurred completely. "Kozo… Please, don't die.. Please, come back to me… Grandfather." She said though she knew it was impossible, her voice growing weaker with every word. In the end, her knees buckled under her and she fell down on her knees, holding his two keys to her heart tightly with both hands as she cried her heart out.

She had just found out… She just found out he was family, that he was her grandfather. And then he left her. Her heart broke into a million pieces. Her whole family was almost dead. Only Hinata and Eiji remained. She sobbed harder at this thought. She would leave them too at some point.

Why? Why did the Spirit King send her here, just to could experience this pain? Why did she have to learn he was his grandfather, just so he could be taken from her in that very moment? How could life be so unfair?

When she felt a pair of hands softly touching her shoulders, she shot up and clenched Nijimura into a tight hug, hiding her face from his sight as she cried her pain out.

She felt his arms tenderly hugging her back, one around her waist, the other softly caressing her hair. "I'm sorry, Lucy." He muttered softly and squeezed her for a moment, having heard the last word she uttered.

It only made her cry even more as her grip around the keys tightened. Almost tight enough to could break them. They dug into her hand painfully. She had no other way to let her pain out than to try and squeeze it out.

Her mind went completely blank as she just continued to cry, going through her memories with the man she now knew as her grandfather. She finally understood his fondness towards her, why he acted as he often did. He had known right from the beginning, when he first saw her sitting there on the stairs, waiting for the boys to be done changing so long ago.

She had no idea how long she had been crying, but she knew that if Nijimura didn't hold her like he did, she would fall right down on the floor again. Her strength had completely disappeared with her tears.

But her tears had stopped, she simply didn't have any more water to give. She still sobbed and sniffed and she probably would the rest of her day here at Earth. Nonetheless, she let him guide her to the bed and watched as he reached over and pushed her grandfather's eyelids closed, letting him sleep peacefully.

She blindly followed as he guided her out of the room again, leaving her grandfather behind. She couldn't hear what he told the nurses, who hurried into the room they had just exited, her senses not working properly. She didn't work properly.

Everything in her hurt. Her heart, her head, her chest, her throat and eyes, even her toes. Everything. Was it so much to ask for a life without everyone dying around her? She knew she wasn't thinking properly, but she couldn't find it in her to care.

She barely registered it as they went outside, getting his bike as they began walking, Nijimura supporting her completely. He knew too, as soon as he let go, she would collapse on the ground in a pathetic, hurting mess on the ground.

Wherever the two were headed, they did so in silence. They both needed space, figuratively, and that was what they gave each other.

Having her sense of time and place completely smashed with her pain, she suddenly found they were standing in front of Kozo's house. He dropped his bike off against the fence and proceeded to pull the blonde with him up to the front door, where he gently knocked.

Not much time passed before they could hear footsteps on the other side and saw the door being opened quickly, revealing Hinata on the other side. She was frozen in place at what she saw before her.

Before she could say anything, Lucy had almost jumped right out of Nijimura's arms and into Hinata's embrace, shedding tears all over again. She was trying to say things, but her words were too hazy for any of them to understand.

The Shirogane woman understood the situation though and wrapped her arms around her granddaughter. "I'm glad to have you back, Sweetie." She said and gently rocked the girl from side to side, easily calming her down as she had done Layla back when she was young. And just like with her daughter, it also calmed her granddaughter down. "Now, you two. Please, come inside." She said

She kept an arm around Lucy as all three of them moved into the living room, where Hinata gently pushed the blonde girl into the armchair, which had otherwise only been used by Kozo and Nijimura placed himself on the couch on the other side of the table.

The elder woman hurried out in the kitchen and brought back tea and cookies, placing them on the coffee table in front of them. And gestured for them to take some. With weak arms and hands, Lucy brought the cup of tea to her mouth and gently sipped on it.

She found that it was no consolation at all and placed them back on the table again, looking down at her hands with painfully dry eyes, the way they always got after crying.

Hinata gently reached out and placed her hand over Lucy's, which were still holding the keys. "Child, there is no reason for you to cry further. Kozo-chan is in a better place now." She said and watched as that only brought the tears to the young blonde's eyes again. Getting up from her chair, she took both of Lucy's hand in her own and crouched in front of her. "Oh, Sweetie." She said softly.

The blonde leaned forward, letting her forehead fall to her grandmother's shoulder as she fought to gain control of herself again. "I already miss him, grandmother. I miss him.." She sobbed.

She felt Hinata nodding. "I know, I do too." She said. She held a little pause before speaking again. "He loved you more than anything, dear. He still does. I know he will watch over you from where he is now." She said, hearing the blonde sniff. "He has been holding on for this long, just so he could see you, his granddaughter, one more time." She told her softly. "He never said so, but I know he did."

Lucy only nodded slowly, feeling a little like a little child again. She didn't care, she wanted to be allowed to act this way. No one would rob her of that.

When the blonde had calmed down a little, the grandmother pulled back and sat in the chair again, looking apologetically to Nijimura, who only shook his head. She grabbed her cup of tea and took a little sip, before speaking up again. "So, dear." She said, getting the blonde's attention. "Why don't you tell us what happened to you?" She suggested, knowing the young man on the other side knew of her granddaughter's situation as well.

Lucy nodded, gently rubbed her eye as she looked up. "It's, uh… Well, it's a little crazy." She said with a little giggle, lightening the mood which had been so, so heavy for so long. Though it was a hollow giggle.

"Your standard crazy or ours?" Nijimura asked from the couch, wanting to could prepare a little for the news coming his way. And knowing how much he should.

"Mine."

 **Right, so I'm leaving it off there.  
I wonder how many of you had expected this. I'm thinking some did, at least with the family connection. I doubt as many knew he'd survive though. **

**I hope you all found this chapter to be satisfactorily sad and that I might have brought a tear to the eye of at least some of you. That's my goal.**

 **Either way, we also got to see Nijimura (And Shinta), so he's back in Japan again, in case you were wondering.**

 **Damn, I'm not even in the mood for some real commentary…**

 **Thank you to all who read, follow, favorite and review! Thank you very much for your attention!**

 **~ Line464d**


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 _ **GUYS**_ **! I have a question concerning pairings, for this story specifically. For a long time, I figured that Lucy should have a strictly sibling-only-relationship with the guys, however my resolve to keep this is faltering. So, I wanted to hear what you think. Who do you think she should be with? Or should she not end up with any of them?  
If I don't get enough answers from this, I will be making a poll. Maybe. **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: You **_**know**_ **that if I owned either of these stories, they'd be far weirder than they should have been.**

 **Earth~**

Lucy slowly stirred awake wherever she was lying, waking up to an almost clear sky, only a few clouds dangling around teasingly up there. Looking all happy and shit.

To be perfectly honest, she would have wished it rained instead. Not only would that fit her current mood to a 't', it would also disguise her already falling tears. She had no doubts her waterworks would break loose sometime today as well.

She gingerly closed her eyes again as she remembered what had happened when she'd woken up at Earthland previously.

 **Earthland, a day ago~**

 _She woke up, feeling the soft, woolen mattress underneath her and the stinging pain in her eyes, knowing she was now back in her own world._

 _What to her only felt like a minute ago, she had spilled the beans to her newly discovered grandmother and friend from two years ago about what had made her disappear as she had. The true beans, that was._

 _Before leaving for the disastrous trials, she had told both of them, and of course also Kozo, her newly discovered grandfather, what exactly she was going to be doing. So that when and if she had been knocked out, her beaten and battered form would need no explanation and they wouldn't have to ask._

 _So what she had to explain was how they were attacked by some evil, ferocious and more than 400 years old dragon of an apocalypse, was protected by their dead first guild master and sent into a time warp in which they were kept for seven years in Earthland and two on Earth._

 _She didn't know what they took best, or if they even took anything at all. Hell, it was even crazy for her, she wasn't even sure she'd even come to terms with it all yet._

 _Either way, not long after she'd finished her explanation, Earthland craved her presence once again, and here she was. On the bed Aries had made, under the tent Virgo had brought and set up for her. She really had no idea what she would do without those Spirits of hers._

 _Speaking of Spirits, she had a pair she hadn't had the time to contract yet. She sighed deeply as she pulled herself up and off the bed. This was definitely going to be the most difficult contract ever._

 _Not even bothering to change, not feeling much like it right now, she stepped out of her tent seeing the other similar tents still calm, letting her know the others were still fast asleep. She went a little away, deeper into the forest, as to not wake her teammates up with the sobfest that was about to ensue._

 _With yet another deep sigh, she pulled out the two silver keys, steeling herself for what was to come. Taking a short moment to admire the keys, she finally summoned her magic. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirits, answer my call and pass through the gate!" She chanted._

 _The instant the incantation was said, two golden lights shone, lighting up the half-dark forest for a moment, before disappearing again, leaving behind two beautiful creatures in its wake._

 _One was a little, adorable girl with long, curly, almost platinum blonde hair, reaching just as far down as Mavis' did. She wore a white, ruffled dress, which reached to her knees in the front, but her heels at the back. Somehow the transition from one to the other was made natural. Her face was that of an adorable, little girl's, with puffy cheeks and big, innocent and beautifully silver eyes._

 _Most magnificent though, were her big, wide wings folded gently behind her back and would drag on the ground with the longest few feathers if she walked. They were the spitting image of what you'd imagine an angel's wings to be, with seemingly soft, silken weather in the purest, unblemished white._

 _Next to her was a man, who could only be described as sexy. His hair was as black as the night itself, spiking out just a little, but long enough to could cover one of his frighteningly red eyes. They were nothing like Gajeel's dark, crimson eyes, these were bright and seemed to glow. His rippled chest, nothing short of perfection, was left bare, just so he could show off. Meanwhile he wore a pair of tight-fitting, blackish gray jeans, which hugged his form just the way they should._

 _Like the girl, he also had a set of wings. However his obsidian wings only barely reached from his head to his knees. They were the shape of a bat's wings, but with a sharp, curled tip where the wings bent. Draconian, in a way. Intimidating._

 _Likewise was the just as black tail, long and thin, with a pointy end, which whipped behind him agitatedly and his pair of thick, dark brown, almost black, horns which curled around his head and pointed forward menacingly._

 _Those two were polar opposites. Night and day. If not for the circumstances, she might have laughed at how funny it looked to have them side by side. Though at the same time, they also fit together, probably especially because they were opposites._

 _The girl, the one who could only be Angelis, smiled brightly at Lucy. "Oh! You must be Lucy-chan!" She said cheerily._

 _The guy, Daemon, looked at her with a scowl, though it had no malicious intent behind it. "So you're the girl the old man kept blabbering about." He grumbled._

 _And this was when the blonde broke down, once again as expected, and let her inner waterfall do what it was good at. "I'm so sorry…!" She told them._

 _She hadn't known Kozo for as long as they did, and she knew how strong the bond between Spirit and mage could be and probably was in this case. She could only imagine how this felt for the two of them._

 _Angelis ran to the other girl and wrapped her little, cute arms around her. "Don't apologize, Lucy-chan! It wasn't your fault." She reassured her comfortingly._

 _Daemon crossed his arms. "The Angel's right, girl. There is not a single damn thing any of us could have done." He said almost angrily. Though his anger didn't seem to be directed at her._

 _Lucy heaved a shaky breath. She knew they were right, she just… The wound was too new. "I'm sorry." She repeated, clenching her eyes shut to fight the tears._

" _For fuck's sake, girl! Do you ever stop apologizing?" The Demon said with a frustrated groan._

 _Angelis whipped around and glared at him, though it looked more like a cute pout. "Leave her alone, Daemon!" She scolded him._

 _He just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."_

 _The blonde stopped herself just before she apologized again, not wanting to sound like a broken record_ or _irritating Daemon more than necessary. "Anyway, um.." She fumbled, drawing attention to herself. "Now Kozo's…" She trailed off, not able to say that one word. She quickly continued though. "Do you want to make a contract with me?" She asked them uncertainly. Just after having lost their previous master like that, it would be entirely understandable if they didn't._

 _To her surprise, Angelis very literally lit up as she smiled brightly at the other blonde. "Of course! We'd love to!" The little girl exclaimed excitedly._

 _The dark guy growled from where he stood. "Speak for yourself, Angel." He scowled, making Lucy's smile wither a bit despite her best intentions. "But yeah, let's just get it over with." He agreed._

 _Once again, the blonde's smile bloomed and displayed her gratitude towards the two. "So, first off. When are you available?" She asked them, pulling out a notebook from nowhere._

" _Every day, Lucy-chan!" Angelis immediately replied, jumping up with her arms spread wide as she smiled for all she was worth._

 _The Demon simply pointed his tail at the bubbly girl, his arms being preoccupied with being crossed. "What she said." He said. Seeing the confused expression on the blonde's face he elaborated. "It's not like we've had much to do the last 25 plus years." He said sarcastically, though it was clear he meant every single word._

 _The Celestial mage nodded slowly, a pained look glittering in her eyes as she pushed the thoughts of her grandfather and her guilt at the back of her mind. "Oh… Right." She muttered. "So what powers do you have?" She asked, quickly changing the topic._

 _Daemon levelled her with an almost patronizing gaze, as if she should have known without him telling her. "Everything connected to the darkness and Demonic magic." He explained curtly._

 _Angelis sighed at him, giving him an adorable glare before turning to her, explaining what he meant, seeing as he was far too vague. "What he's trying to say is that he has the powers of the darkness and shadows, the fires of Hell and chaos itself." She explained dramatically._

" _How is that any different than what I said?" Daemon asked offended. He was left ignored._

 _The blonde eyes the male Spirit with wary, cautious, yet impressed eyes. "Really?" She asked the both of them. That was a lot of power. No wonder they became Lost._

 _The Angel Spirit nodded thoughtfully. "I guess it would be for a silver key these days." She mused mostly to herself._

" _So what about yourself, Angelis?" She asked curiously, wondering what she could have, when he had all that._

 _Once again, the Angel lit up in a bright smile. "I have Angelic magic and the power of the light!" She told her ecstatically. So even in this, they were opposites. The blonde urged her to continue with a nod. Never ceasing the smiling, she continued. "I have the power of healing and of the purifying winds, of the light and of the sun." She explained, still as dramatic as before._

 _Daemon took over. "My magic, as you can see, is offensive, while hers is more defensive and or supportive." He said. "That doesn't mean I can't use my magic defensively, it just means I excel offensively." He clarified with a bored tone._

 _Angelis nodded with vigor. "Yeah!" She agreed. "And I'm stronger in the daytime, whereas Daemon is stronger during the night!" She added._

 _Lucy nodded, flabbergasted with their strength. "Wow…" Was all she could say._

 _Daemon sighed exasperatedly. "If that's all, I'll be leaving." He said as he disappeared in a flash of golden light._

 _Angelis smiled and waves as she followed suit, leaving Lucy to her own devices once again, letting the turmoil in her out of its cage, raging crazily in her head. She needed a distraction._

 **Earth, present~**

She sighed deeply and opened her eyes again, valiantly fighting back against the stinging sensation in them. She had literally spent the entire day wallowing and drowning in despair and booze.

Capricorn - as well as everyone else - had felt her pain and gave her a day off from training. Already an hour after the contracts were made, she was feeling the effects of the strong alcohol.

Unfortunately, unlike all the other times she got drunk, this time she didn't get overly perverted. No, the alcohol only served to strengthen her self-pity and pain, which she then continued trying to drown with the beverage. An endless cycle. Which ended when Earthland kicked her out, figuring it had had enough of her.

She was pretty sure she'd been drinking as much as Cana on a good day. In other words, way beyond what she should be capable of.

She slowly tried sitting up on what she found out was a bench. She found that the further her head was up in the air, the more merciless it was with its pounding. She groaned when she got up in a sitting position, burying her throbbing head in her hands in a sign of defeat.

She had no idea how she would get through this day. She couldn't even imagine getting up and off this bench right now. She dearly prayed no one she knew would find her in this pitiful state.

Of course, the gods weren't feeling nice today. "Lucy!" She heard an energetic voice call out to her. It rang a strong bell in her distraught mind, yet nothing came up. She looked up just as the person landed in a crouch in front of her. "Are you all right?" The voice belonging to a blonde guy with dark green eyes and a snaggletooth asked.

"Hayama." She somehow got out, thought it hurt just to say it. Her mind, though hazy at the moment, managed to put two and two together. No Hayama without Akashi. She groaned internally. She just wanted to bury herself in a deep, deep pit right now, never to come up again.

While she wallowed in her self-pity once again, the rest of the Rakuzan team caught up to their blonde teammate, who had set into a run as soon as they recognized her.

Now Hayama turned to his redheaded captain. "Captain! She's not feeling good!" He stated the obvious with a much too loud voice.

Lucy grunted her pain out, digging her fingers into her scalp, not caring the slightest about how unladylike she seemed. She had already shown them this much, why not to all out? "Too loud." She grumbled to herself as she began massaging her temples in a feeble attempt to be rid of the pain. It didn't work.

Mibuchi put a finger to his chin thoughtfully as he watched the girl's actions. "Do you have a headache?" He asked her, slightly concerned though he didn't really know the girl.

She shook her head, though quickly found it to be agonizing and immediately stopped, gritting her teeth at her own stupidity. But truly it wasn't just her head which hurt. Everything did.

Eikichi snorted. "Nah, that's a powerful hangover she's got there. Real powerful." He corrected the dark haired guy.

She looked at the big guy and gave the tiniest nod in existence, in order to spare herself as much as possible.

Akashi looked at her with curious, yet calculating eyes, trying to figure out the reason she would have been drinking like she had. Surely, she did not do this because of her father. "How much?" He simply asked as Hayama pulled away, his gaze entirely on the blonde.

She turned to the redhead with a deadpan expression. "All. Night." She pronounced clearly. Well, she didn't exactly answer his question properly, but it probably got the message across.

Eiji stood with his arms crossed. "We don't have time for this, the opening ceremony will begin in 15 minutes." He said, urging the team to get a move on.

"That's true…" Hayama muttered. They were actually just a little busy. "But we can't just leave her here!" He said defiantly. "Especially not like this." He reasoned, eyeing the pained girl, who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Opening ceremony for what?

"Hmm… Surely there will be some kind of infirmary in there. Or someone who could do… Something." Mibuchi mused out loud.

Then it struck her, what they were referring to. The Winter Cup. It was beginning today. She was probably lying on some bench close to it, if she had to guess.

She looked up at all of them. "Just go ahead, I'll figure something out." She said and almost moaned when she'd said that. Clearly, that was a lie. She'd just be lying here and suffer the day away, but that was better than getting them late.

"No." They all turned to the captain of the team, who had said that so certainly. He stepped closer to the blonde. "We are not leaving you here." He sternly stated, taking a firm, though not rough, hold of her elbow, pulling her up. Haizaki would be here today. He would not be leaving the blonde alone and defenseless like this.

Lucy hissed as she came to stand up, her vision swam around, as if she was still drunk. Maybe she was, or maybe she had just gotten up too quick and was ambushed by a dizzy spell. Nevertheless, her whole body was letting her know exactly how much it didn't like getting up with every wave sent through her.

She tried to fight against Akashi's grip, but quickly found it to be impossible in her state. "Please just leave me on the bench, Sei-kun." She practically whined to him.

His grip on her elbow only got firmer. "No." He simply replied and gestured and gestured for them all to move forward again. They did so, silently.

When she took the first step, she couldn't keep the whimper from slipping through her defenses, feeling the shockwave rush through her entire being, knocking on every nerve on its way up. She just wanted to lie on the ground, curled up in a ball until she got back to her own world, where she would do the very same thing, just on the bed Aries had made for her. Only, it would probably have diminished with whatever healing thing was happening when she went from world to world.

Akashi felt her reluctance to take any more steps and pulled her forward again. "You need to get inside, Lucy." He told her. The tone told everyone and their grandmother that it wasn't even slightly up for discussion.

The pull had, of course, made her stumble forward. And it wasn't the gentle kind of steps she had taken, it was the kind of hard steps that prevented you from falling forward and land with your nose crushed to the floor. The kind which were pure torture to her right now.

When she grabbed her head and dug her fingers into her hair, pulling at it in an effort to have the pain focused somewhere else, Mibuchi sighed. "You need to be gentler with her, captain." He muttered lowly under her breath.

Eikichi nodded. "Man, a powerful hangover can even get a big, muscular man down on his knees." He said, having experienced that more than once himself. Akashi simply remained silent as he kept the blonde moving. What else was there to be done in the situation?

Hayama's face lit up into one of his grins. "I got an idea!" He exclaimed loudly, then remembered not to be too loud at least for now. They all stopped up, when the blonde went into a low crouch in front of the other blonde, his arms behind him and motioning her closer, a grin on his face. "Hop on." He said.

Lucy blinked at him a few times, trying to understand what he wanted her to do. Well, she knew what he wanted her to do, she was just confused why. Why did he want her on his back?

Maybe it would ease moving around - or being moved around - a little. So, with a smile to her fellow blonde, she accepted the offer, wiggling out of her heterochromatic friend's grip. "Thanks, Hayama." She said and somehow got on his back without bringing herself too much pain.

He nodded as he locked his arms around her legs and carefully stood up again. "No problem." He replied.

The hand which had been holding the blonde girl's elbow a second ago fisted and its owner's gaze faced forward, not even glancing at the two at his left as he began moving forward. "Let's go." He coldly said.

And with all the others, Hayama also set into motion. Though her being carried didn't take the pain away with each of his steps, it sure was much less than if she was walking herself. She closed her eyes and let her forehead drop to her carrier's shoulder as she accustomed herself to the pain. As soon as she had managed to do that, she could focus on whatever was going to happen.

She found that in reality, this team was actually a very silent one. That or the heavy mood which had settled over them was what made none of them say anything to each other. It could be either, or it could be both.

Soon enough, the silence was broken, though not by anyone of the Rakuzan team. "Oh, Seijuro. Look who I found." A voice she could recognize said from somewhere a little away with a quite amused tone.

She felt her ride stop with the rest of his team and she opened her eyes, curios to see what the commotion was.

"Daiki, Satsuki." He said as a short kind of greeting. If you could even call it that. She looked up to see they'd stopped up close to the Tōō team. And someone else too. "Shuzo."

The pinkette's eyes drifted to where the blondes were, seeing movement there. And then, expectedly, her eyes widened comically. "Lucy-chan!" She squealed, surprised.

Lucy groaned and lifted a hand to her ear, though her reaction was way delayed. "Oh god, Sat-chan. Not today." She said barely loud enough for the other girl to catch. Her voice cut straight into her skull like a vice.

"Huh, what's up with you, Heartfilia?" Aomine asked, looking at the blonde with furrowed brows. All in all, the scene in front of him was just puzzling. Clearly the redhead was in a horrible mood, the blonde girl seemed to be in some kind of pain and was being carried by some random guy. Just what the hell was going on?

"It would seem she managed to get herself a hangover." Mibuchi replied 'helpfully'. Meanwhile Lucy groaned lightly as she was internally battling against herself to not beat him down. Hadn't she been embarrassed enough as it was? Did the gods, aka the Spirit King in this case, really feel it so fun to torture her like this?

Footsteps approached while Lucy kept her eyes closed in her growing embarrassment. Not only were she hanging on Hayama's back like a big baby, she literally had to otherwise she'd get nowhere, she now had showed all of these people exactly how weak she was right now. Why? Just why?

"You all need to get to the opening ceremony. Let me take care of her from here." She heard a very much familiar voice say and almost wanted to cry in joy. Nijimura. _Exactly_ who she needed right now, to get her out of this mess. If she had to be with someone, at least let it be him. Though that also included Shinta, but that was all right.

She looked up, locked her gaze with Nijimura's, which shone with understanding, and nodded for Hayama to let her down. "Yeah, I can't drag you down any longer." She said.

"It wasn't that bad." Hayama commented as he slowly lowered her to the ground, letting the black haired guy take care of the other blonde.

Lucy smiled thankfully at Hayama, then turned to where Akashi had been, only to find him already having begun moving towards the entrance of the building in front of them, not sparing her a second glance, the rest of his team following him. The blonde guy sent her a shrug before catching up to the rest of his team.

Lucy sighed and carefully waved to Aomine and Momoi who sent her concerned gazes - though at varying degrees of visibility - reassuring them with her smile that she'd be all right with Nijimura.

Turning to said guy, she looked at him and his friend apologetically. "I'm sorry I have to bother you two days in a row." She apologized, wincing as she moved towards them.

Nijimura shook his head and quickly pulled her arm over his shoulders and got one around her as well. "Don't worry about it." He told her softly, having figured out what she'd been doing in her own world once she returned there. "There's some kind of infirmary here, isn't there?" He asked his friend, who may just have been here the year before.

Shinta nodded. "Yeah, there is." He confirmed and turned to the two of them. "I'll go get some painkillers, then you find somewhere she can rest for a little while. She probably shouldn't be getting inside just yet." He said, to which he got a nod, and then jogged off towards wherever he'd be getting those painkillers.

Lucy let herself be dragged off by Nijimura and sighed. "He's too nice." She said. All she'd done so far was trick him - back during her and Momoi's little mission - and then stolen his friend from him. Twice.

Nijimura chuckled and nodded as he placed her on a bench right beside a quite broad staircase, in the shadows of the building. "Yeah, he is." He agreed, pulling up a device called a phone and sent a quick letter through it. Probably to Shinta. How it worked, Lucy would never figure out. "So, did you get satisfyingly drunk back at home?" He asked her, a little bit amused with the situation despite everything.

She sighed deeply and shook her head. "Yeah, but it only made it worse." She told him. Thinking about it, she let a small smile slip to her lips. "It's so stupid, I should have known." She said, looking up at him from where she was lying across the bench, taking up all space. "You know, I did nothing but drink the whole time I was there." She grunted a laugh at herself.

He shook his head. "Well, that's how it goes. Regretting it now?" He asked, smiling.

"Big time." She simply replied. She should have at least thrown some of it up, so she wouldn't have such a bad time today. Unfortunately she'd been too drunk to think that far ahead.

That was when Shinta came through the door right behind him. "Yup, got them here." He said and handed them to the downed girl along with a plastic glass with water. As the blonde forced herself up in a sitting position, she received the items. A pair of small, white pills. "It'll probably take a little time for them to work, but they should work like a charm." He said.

She nodded and quickly swallowed them with some water. "Thanks a lot, Shinta." She told him.

"Don't worry about it! I know how much of a headache hangovers can be like." He said with a wink. "Besides, any friend of Nijimura over there is a friend of mine." He added, smiling. "So, how about I go in there and hold three seats for us, then you can just come in when you're feeling up to it?" He suggested.

Nijimura nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." He agreed. Shinta gave them a thumbs up and disappeared into the building again.

Lucy watched as he left with an eyebrow raised. "He's so nice it's almost creepy." She commented. It almost felt like the guy had something planned and was just trying to get under their skin first. Almost.

Her friend nodded again. "I know what you mean, I thought that too when I first met him." He admitted and watched as the blonde began massaging her scalp again. "You don't have any Spirits, who can heal you?" He asked her. She had so many different Spirits, he was having trouble remembering all of them and what they could do.

She grimaced. "I do, but.." She emptied the last half of the glass quickly, remembering what Angelis had told her just a little over a day ago about her abilities. "I want to remember this in the future so that I _never_ do it again." She told him, placing the glass on the bench next to her.

He laughed at her answer. "Future you will appreciate that." He reassured her. Seeing the emptied glass, he gestured towards it. "Do you want more water?" He asked.

She looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow in amusement. "What's with you two and being suspiciously nice today?" She asked him, to which he shrugged. "But yeah, I would very much like that. What will it cost?" She asked him, already fiddling with her pouch connected with her belt. Like she did Earthland's Jewels, she had also begun carrying Japan's Yen around on her, should a situation arise. Like now.

He shook his head at her, rejecting her money. "No, I'm paying this one." He told her firmly.

She sighed in defeat. There was just no fighting that tone, it was the same Akashi had used when getting her off the bench and Gajeel had used it during training several times too. Though whereas Akashi and Nijimura's were with good intention, Gajeel's sure as hell was not.

As the black haired guy ran off to get her some water, she resigned to leaning back on the bench, tipping her head backwards. The pain still let its presence be known, but it didn't seem to be as forceful as it had been when she'd woken up. Of course, she'd also had a little time to calm down and recover, mostly thanks to Hayama carrying her. It would probably still be a little time before the painkillers Shinta had given her would have any effect.

She perked up when she heard someone approach from the base of the staircase she was sitting nearby. It seemed to be two people, who were arguing, one dribbling a basketball. "Are you _sure_ it was here?" A somewhat loud female voice asked her companion.

The ball was dribbled into the ground with more force than necessary, showing the person's irritation. "Yes, Satsuki, I _know_ it was here." The companion, male, answered.

Lucy strained to see the two people from where she sat, hidden in the shadows, though she already knew who the two were. And right as she were, Aomine and Momoi appeared at the base of the staircase.

Momoi was looking at her childhood friend with a pouty expression and furrowed brows. "Then why is there no one else here?" She asked him.

"How the fuck should I know?" He replied. "We are the first to arrive." He told her, doing a crossover with every step he took up the staircase, until her plopped down on the third step, picking the ball up to spin it on his finger, while Momoi glared at him, reprimanding him on his foul language.

The blonde contemplated making her presence known, to ask them what was going on, when Kise appeared at the high end of the stairs, his nose buried in his phone, until he looked up at the two with a smile. "Hi Aominecchi, Satcchi." He greeted the two friendlily.

"Oh, it's just you, Ryota." Aomine replied, looking back at the blonde by tilting his head backwards as the guy descended to the middle of the stairs, once again with his attention back on his phone, which hadn't stopped vibrating once since his arrival.

Just what was going on? Why were they gathering here? The blonde's mind was wheeling, trying to figure out what was happening.

The rustling of a bag announced the arrival of Murasakibara. "Ohhh… I'm not the first." Was what the tall guy said as he stopped up at the base of the stairs, looking at the three people, who had all arrived.

She completely forgot the pain she was having as she leaned forward, watching all the Miracles arriving one by one. She didn't have a single idea what this was all about.

Next came Midorima, curiously enough carrying a scissor around with him. "Hm, we're almost full complement, it seems." He said, looking around at everyone gathered calmly.

Right then, Kuroko turned around the corner with the some guy from the Seirin team. Aomine looked at his fellow blue haired guy. "What, Tetsu. You brought a chaperone with you?" He asked patronizingly.

Murasakibara took a bite of his chocolate and looked at Aomine. "Mine-chin has Sa-chin as a chaperone too." He stated.

The former ace among them glared at the tall, purple haired guy. "Hey, leave Satsuki out of this!" He told him. The blonde could see his point though, Satsuki at least knew all of them personally, the Seirin member Lucy couldn't recognize, didn't. Though that didn't explain what they were all gathering for in the slightest.

"Wait, Midorimacchi, why do you have scissors with you?" Kise asked the green haired guy, furiously pushing the buttons on his phone while doing so.

Midorima lifted the tool and spread the blade apart almost threateningly. "It's my lucky item, of course." He replied matter-of-factly.

The blonde glanced up from his phone and looked at the guy. "Um… Either way, it's dangerous, so can you stop holding it like that while talking?" He asked of the guy.

"Sorry for the wait." Kuroko said, though he was quite late with mentioning it.

Not a single one of them had noticed her presence as of yet, and until she had figured out what this was all about, she was not sure she wanted them to either. So she just silently watched from where she was sitting on the bench.

Aomine finally turned back and looked at Kise with an annoyed look. "That phone's annoying, Ryota. Is it from Seijuro?" He asked.

Kise looked at his phone and his eyes widened. "Oh!" He said, making them all - Lucy included - look at him curiously. "A text from one of my fans cheering me on." He said pleasantly.

"Die." Midorima commented at the statement.

Murasakibara returned to trying to open a bag of some snack, but found it difficult. "Mmm~? Huh? It won't open…" He said mostly to himself, though everyone heard it loud and clear. He turned to Midorima. "Mido-chin, lend me those scissors." He told the orange clad guy.

The guy sighed. "I'm going to say no." He rejected the purple haired guy's order.

"Why?" The rejected player asked in a whiny tone, before turning to Kuroko. "Kuro-chin, do you have one?" He asked him.

Kuroko shook his head. "No, I don't."

Lucy furrowed her brows. Even though it seemed their conversation was pleasant and harmless, the tension between all of them lay heavily in the atmosphere. And it was especially obvious on Kuroko's teammate, who seemed to be fighting tooth and nail not to buckle under it. She realized now how difficult it would be for her to bring these guys together.

Kise scoffed. "Why is the person who called us here the last one to arrive?" He asked no one in particular. So Akashi was the one who had brought them all here… Why?

Midorima pushed up his glasses. "Don't get angry every time. He's just this kind of person." He reminded him as Aomine tsk'ed in agreement with Kise's statement.

Right on cue, Akashi appeared at the very top of the stairs. "Sorry, I've kept you waiting." He commented.

With the beginning setting sun, half of him was covered in shadows, even from Lucy's angle. She was pretty sure that from their angle, it seemed like he was completely left in the shadow, only his left side, the one with the yellow eye, visible. Quite honestly, if she didn't know the guy, she'd be quite scared of him just by looking at him like this. What was going on…

His gaze flicked over his former teammates as he named each one of them. "Daiki. Ryota. Shintaro. Atsushi. And Kuroko." He called to them all. "I am happy to see you again. The fact that we are all gathered here… Is very touching." He said with a hint of sarcasm. Then his gaze turned to Kuroko's teammate. "But… There is someone who should not be here." He said, eyeing the Seirin member.

Lucy got up and off the bench, getting a dark feeling about Akashi. It seemed he had been in a bad mood when they parted earlier, and this sure didn't seem like someone in a good mood. What was he about to do to the intruding guy?

He simply kept his gaze locked at the beyond terrified guy. "Right now, I only want to talk to my comrades." He informed him. "Sorry, but can you leave?" Though the words were nice, polite even, the way he said it was so dark and threatening. She was floored. To think he could do this… Just what had happened…

Unfortunately, the guy was completely frozen under Akashi's steely gaze. It was the exact same feeling her and many of her teammates had felt when facing Acnologia, she understood his fright. Though the scale was different, it would indeed be for the best if this guy got out of here. Akashi was unpredictable like this.

Just before she jumped down and pushed the guy away to break him out of his petrified state, another guy with the same clothing as Kuroko and the guy put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Akashi calmly. "Come on, that's cold. Don't leave him out of the loop." The guy said with a deep voice and she barely concealed her sharp intake of breath. She didn't know this guy with the crimson red hair and eyes, strange eyebrows and calm expression, but somehow she knew it was this 'Kagami' Kise had mentioned. Things just went from bad to worse.

She was confirmed in her suspicion when the guy the tall red-haired guy had broken out of his petrification whirled around and looked at him with wide, relieved, yet shocked eyes. "Kagami!"

"Yup, I'm back." Kagami answered with a carefree voice, while Lucy internally begged him to take the other Seirin guy and just walk away now. Her intuition and instinct was telling her that that was what they should do. "We can catch up later, but first…" He turned his attention to the other redhead present and looked at him determinedly. "So you're Akashi.. Glad to meet you." He said earnestly.

Akashi stared at Kagami for a moment, before descending the stair, walking towards Midorima. "Shintaro, can I borrow those scissors for a bit?" He asked.

Without hesitation, the green haired guy offered his former captain the scissors, unlike what he did with Murasakibara. "What do you need them for?" He asked as Akashi took his lucky item.

"My hair has been bothering me for a while, I was just thinking about cutting it." He told him, making short work of bangs hanging almost all the way down to his eyes. Meanwhile, he'd made it down to where Kagami, Kuroko and the other guy stood. "Now then… You are Kagami-kun, right?" He asked the much taller guy darkly.

Lucy's instinct immediately kicked in and took over her body, probably thanks to all her training with Gajeel. Time slowed down for her, but at the same time, everything passed by in a flash. In no time, she was right between the two redheads as Akashi was about to stab Kagami in the head with the scissors. She quickly grabbed Akashi's arm, stopping it from moving forward and disarming him.

Time returned to normal, and while Kagami already was in the process of dodging the now halted scissors' incoming and probably would have avoided them even if she hadn't been there, he now was surprised to see the blonde standing there, having intercepted the blow quicker than he had thought it possible.

Everyone stood still, all of them looking at the angry blonde, who truly lived up to the nickname they'd given her back in the day. The yellow flash. They'd even felt the wind after her, as if it had been a truck going past them with 80 kilometers per hour, and not a single girl.

Kuroko was the first to break out of his daze. "Lucy…?" He asked carefully, surprised. He didn't even have to see her face to know she was a ticking bomb just waiting to explode, he knew her well enough to know that.

Aomine stared at her with wide, impressed eyes. "Fuck that was fast…" He muttered to himself, at a loss of words. He knew she was quick, but this quick? No, this was inhuman. No one should be able to move this fast.

Lucy completely ignored the two's comments, she was too busy glaring at Akashi like she had never glared at anyone before. She didn't know what had happened these two years, she didn't know what he had been through, but nothing justified him attacking someone without a reason like this.

In an act of the purest, blistering anger, she hurled the scissor away, into a wall, where it stayed, the tip buried into the wall. The countdown reached zero. "What the _HELL_ was that, Akashi?!" She yelled at him furiously, throwing his arm - which she had been holding to stop him from hitting Kagami - away as if it disgusted her to even hold it. She didn't even use his first name. "How could you do something like that?!" She asked him, for some reason disappointed.

He narrowed his eyes at her, having been released from his trance - like everyone else - when she'd exploded. "It is none of your business." He told her with a calm voice, though he was also shaken with the aura she was exuding right then and her display of power and speed.

Lucy poked his chest roughly. "I don't care! You don't just attack people like that! You hear me?!" She yelled at him. She didn't know what got her this furious, but it had hit a chord in her. She had never thought, never even imagined he was capable of something like this. She hardly even registered it when she heard the door by the bench closing after the person, who could only be Nijimura.

Akashi's heterochromatic gaze grew much colder as he met hers head on, outwardly showing nothing but calmness. "You have no right to tell me what to do, Lucy. You were not there when you were needed. You do not know any of us anymore, you are nothing but a person from the past butting their head in where it does not belong." He told her with an icy tone.

The blonde froze at his words right alongside everyone else around the two. Those words.. These blaming words. It was just as he had told her back then, only he had not gotten over it. He still blamed her for them disbanding, for everything playing out the way it had.

And worst of all, he knew exactly how much those words would affect her. He knew how many soft spots that would hit, he knew how much she regretted not having been there when everything went haywire.

She couldn't manage to say a single word in retaliations, all she could do was watch silently as he turned to the redhead behind her. "You." He called out to the Seirin player, who'd cleverly stayed completely still - even more so than all the others - during their exchange. "Be glad _she_ was here to protect you this time." He said, sneering at the mention of Lucy.

The blonde dropped her head and gaze as he didn't even utter her name. She closed her eyes. He hated her now, of course he would. She didn't have the emotional strength to deal with this right now, she really didn't.

"But there will not be a next time." Akashi promised Kagami. "If I say leave, then leave." He continued, starting to walk back up the stairs, keeping his back to Kagami as he spoke. "In this world, winning is everything. Winners are validated and losers are denied." He paused his step, stopping where he stood, above everyone else. However he still faced forward, away from them. "Until now, I have never lost at anything. And I won't in the future." He promised. "Since I always win, I am always right." He said.

Though Lucy was fighting against herself, his words did not slip past her. These words… They were so corrupt, so evil. Self-centered and egoistic. If it wasn't because she was hearing it right at this moment, she would have never thought those words would leave the redhead's mouth. But she had learned a lot about him today, and now knew it was entirely possible.

Looking back over his shoulder, Akashi's gaze flickered to Lucy for a fragment of a moment, before settling on Kagami. "If you oppose me… I will kill you. No matter who you are." He said.

Lucy's head whip up at the threat. She knew she couldn't stop her emotions from showing through her eyes, but otherwise she remained stoic. That threat was not only aimed at Kagami.

Akashi turned around again and continued his ascension. "Well then, I will get going. We are done for the day." He told them, making his exit.

Aomine turned around to his former captain, looking at him exasperatedly. "Seijuro, don't give me that! You made us come out here just for that?" He asked him with an annoyed, yet careful tone. He didn't want to incur the redhead's wrath, which could and would burst forth at the slightest poke.

Akashi looked at him. "You are right, Daiki. I wanted to check one thing, but looking at everyone's faces made me realize that is not necessary." He told him. "Since it seem like no one has forgotten the oath we made back then, it is all good." He said and almost seemed to smile crookedly at all of them. "The next time we meet, it will be in battle." With that, he left. And with him, the heavy atmosphere.

And with the suspension gone, in came her hangover, feeling it had not made its presence clear enough throughout this day. She put a hand to her head and groaned lowly, hearing Nijimura swing himself over the railing and land next to her, handing her the bottle. She gave him a thankful look and chugged down some water, already then feeling how it relieved her head.

"For someone with a hangover, that was pretty badass, Heartfilia." Aomine commented, once again spinning the ball on one finger. With Akashi gone, all attention was on her.

As she sent the blue haired guy a halfhearted glare, not having the energy to argue right now, Midorima pushed his glasses up. "What are you doing here anyway, Lucy?" He asked her.

She turned her gaze to him. "Actually, I was here before you were, resting on the bench up there." She said, gesturing to it. "And then you all came." She sighed.

"I see." Was all she was returned with.

She sent him a little, tired smile, before turning around, finding herself nose-to-chest to Kagami, who, during all this time, had not moved an inch. In surprise, they both took a step back, realizing how close they'd actually been.

Once again, the blonde sighed internally. Everything was just going wrong these days. "I'm sorry we had to meet like this, Kagami, but there's nothing to be done about it." She said, muttering the last part. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need some time to think." She stated and the last thing any of them heard before she disappeared behind the door was: "This is giving me a headache."

For a moment, everyone remained silent, before Nijimura began moving back up the stairs, opting to follow the blonde, figuring what she must be going through right now. "I'll be going as well." He said, knowing none of them were confused as to where and to whom he was headed.

She'd been ambushed by an evil guild of her world, the most evil mage in their history and an equally evil dragon, wakes up to find she is seven years behind in her own world and that her father had passed away. Then she comes here and finds she is two years behind here, two very defining and important years, creating distance between herself and these runts, the man she trusted most here died right before her eyes, right after having told her he was her grandfather and now this.

She may be the strongest woman he knew, but though mage, she was still only human. She could only take so much.

"Nijimura, what the hell is going on with her?" Aomine asked, stopping the person here, who clearly had most insight in what was going on with the blonde. Now he wanted answers.

While Nijimura hesitated to answer, Kagami broke in with a question of his own. "Who was that girl?" He asked curiously. In his sixteen years of life, he had never seen anyone react as quickly as her or radiate as much anger and power as she had in the moment she had grabbed that Akashi guy. That, and the scissor was still stuck in the wall.

Kuroko immediately answered his teammate's question. "That was Lucy Heartfilia, she was a friend of all of us during our first year in Teiko. But then she disappeared and has come back very recently." He said, looking out to the others to see if she had missed anything.

Aomine threw the ball up and slammed it down on the step between his legs, looking at Kagami. "She's the strangest, but most badass girl you will ever meet." He promised him, both referring to the thing just now, but also the thing only he knew of during that festival. He doubted any other girl could kick ass like she could.

Kagami only seemed more confused at that statement. Midorima decided he should also add something now they were at it. "That and it would seem her aim is to bring all of us back together again, to become what we were then." He said, pushing his glasses up as he always did. The others nodded, having felt the same thing already and knowing she'd be a person who'd do that.

The crimson haired Seirin player looked around at all of them. Granted, he hadn't seen them all together much, but the difference from how they acted during their conversation before and now, it was clear even to someone like him that the girl meant something to all of them. And not just a little something.

"Mmm… Lu-chin doesn't like to be called by her last name." Murasakibara commented from where he was standing, resuming his consumption of his chocolate.

Kise turned to the black haired guy, who had continued climbing the stairs, after the blonde. "Nijicchi, please tell us what happened." He asked of his former former captain.

Nijimura sighed, having hoped he could escape. "It's not my place to tell you all of it, but there is one thing I believe you should know, now there is no way around it." He said, turning around to look at all of them. There were so many things, which would be so much easier if only they knew what the girl truly was. But that was for her to tell, not him. "Yesterday, Kozo died." He said, leaning against the railing he was standing by, knowing this could become a little lengthy.

"Kozo… The old man, Shirogane?" Aomine asked, his eyes wide in realization. "Damn…" He muttered.

Momoi, who had been very silent throughout the whole ordeal, moved her hands to her mouth and gasped as tears formed in her eyes. "But… She loved Shirogane-san."

Nijimura looked to the pinkette and nodded. "Yes, probably more than any of us knew." He agreed. "And that's not the best part, as we saw him take his dying breaths-" Mouths were left agape at the mention of her being there _as_ he died. "- he also revealed that he was her grandfather." He told them.

Even though Kagami knew nothing of this girl, even he knew that was a hard blow. "Shit." He muttered.

Kuroko nodded, understanding what Nijimura said, but also agreeing with Kagami's silent statement. "So that coupled with what happened right now…" He trailed off.

The black haired guy looked at Kuroko and gave a slight nod. "Exactly, her emotions are out of control right now." He said and pushed off the railing, having told what he wanted to. He took a pair of steps before stopping again. "That and she is having a hard time stepping out of her 'big sister' role, as you saw. Give her some space to work it out." He ordered, stepping back in his 'captain' role, before he continued to follow the blonde.

 **GOD, that was a long chapter. But also a good one, I hope. (9.000 words, guys. Gimme some credit!)**

 **So yeah, Lucy finally learns about just how much Akashi has changed, and she finally met Kagami as well. And as Nijimura so nicely put it, her emotions are out of her control. Which shouldn't be too surprisingly given everything, which he also summed up.**

 **And they all finally know of Kozo's passing. Well, everyone except Akashi, who left beforehand.**

 **The actual matches will begin next chapter with no less than Seirin vs Tōō, to start it all off. Hope I'll be able to get that across properly…**

 **Anyway! Thanks a lot for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing, everyone! Let's pray it's enough to continuously have me make good chapters for you, shall we? ;)**

 **~Line464d**


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 **So, let's see what's going to happen after all this drama, shall we?  
Also, thank you very much for the many replies I got to my question last chapter!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yessir! You got it, I'm still Kuroko no Basuke-less and Fairy Tail-less. I apologize for my worthlessness!**

 **Earth~**

Nijimura slowly closed the door behind him, leaving the group of basketball players to think in the silence between them. He paused by the now closed door and sighed.

He had to somehow convince the blonde to tell those runts, with what just happened, there was just no way around it. And the sooner she told them, the sooner that weight she was carrying around would disperse and she would be able to feel much, much more at ease around them all. Not only that, to those guys, Lucy was still an enigma, more so than she was for him. They didn't know anything about her. Anything. Almost all they knew about her were lies at this point. It would help them as well, knowing about her, getting their questions answered. And they deserved to know at this point.

The only very big and very pressing problem was, since the girl had been lying for so long, it probably seemed easier for her to just cover things up with lies. Every time she lied, the truth would get further away and that much harder to tell. She was only making it harder for herself.

The black haired guy shook his head. Unfortunately, even if she wanted him to, he couldn't be the one to tell the runts. It had to be her, it had to be her decision.

He began walking down the hall, looking around for the distressed blonde, knowing she was probably hiding in a corner somewhere.

He was so lost in thought, he jumped when the entrance doors opened and let two girls in. Maybe a little too focused there. "Did you see that girl? She seemed really down…" One of them muttered to the other worriedly, it was only just Nijimura caught it.

The other nodded. "Yeah, I wonder what's wrong." She said, then put her hands behind her head with a big grin. "She won't be sad for long with that hunk with her though!" The first girl giggled

He didn't hear any more of the conversation as he went outside. In all likelihood, there weren't anyone but Lucy who was down right here, no one had played yet.

Once he got out, he looked around for the person those two girls had talked about. The sound of withheld sobs came from his left and when he looked, he did indeed see Lucy, but with the guy he recognized as the Spirit who'd popped up when he was being told where she was really from. Leo, was it? It seemed he had shed the glasses for now.

Anyway, the ginger Spirit gently stroke the blonde's head and let her cry into his shoulder as she tightly clutched him in her arms. He soothingly shushed her. "Princess, calm down. He probably didn't mean it." The Spirit tried to calm his master down.

"Of course he meant it!" Lucy said, whipping her head up and almost glaring at him. "He meant it, I know he did." She said a little calmer. "The way he said it… He blames me for everything." She said with a shaky voice. "And he's right to." She added with a low voice, looking down.

At this point, Nijimura seriously felt like he was intruding and if he hadn't been sort of frozen on the spot, he would have turned around and left.

The glasses-less guy seemed angered by this statement, placed his hands on each side of the blonde's face and tipped her head up to meet his gaze again, which was looking straight into hers. "Listen, Princess, what has happened here is not your fault in the _slightest._ You were attacked by a damn dragon! What could you have done? It's a wonder you're even alive right now!" He reasoned with her, hushed, but speaking quickly and intensely.

She sighed. "Yes, but they don't know that…" She trailed off.

While the guy paused for a moment, watching his master tear up again, Nijimura hardly even breathed at all. "Why don't you just tell them?" He softly asked as the black haired spectator finally got blood pumping around again and turned around to leave. This guy definitely had a better shot at convincing her than he did. And he'd been listening to their conversation quite long enough.

The blonde looked right up at him. "You know why." She accused him, furrowing her eyebrows. "If I told them, they'd want to know everything. That includes how weak I am." She said almost harshly, though it was definitely directed at herself. "I don't want them to know I'm so inferior even in my own world." She said, dropping her gaze and speaking so softly it was barely hearable. Nijimura froze by the door. What?

The Spirit's hands slid down to her shoulders. "Why do you think that, Lucy?" He said seriously, which was only emphasized by him not using the nickname he had for her. "You can summon two gold keys at Earthland and keep it open for an hour, you can have one gold key open the entirety of a day. _While_ you train with that Spirit. That's amazing, Lucy." He said and gestured to her keys. "You have collected so many of us already, it's been centuries since this has happened, and we all love you like family. You're keeping me out right now. A weak mage couldn't do that." He reasoned with her. Nijimura only understood some of what the guy meant, but he agreed. Where did these thoughts of hers come from?

Lucy shook her head, not lifting her gaze from their feet. "I know, I know it's been a long time. I know I'm somewhat strong as a Celestial mage." She said, getting a frustrated sigh from the guy as she once again probably underestimated her abilities. "But even then, why do I always need the help of Natsu, Gray, Erza or anyone else? I can't ever fight for myself. I can't protect anyone. Even Wendy is stronger than me…" She said, her voice getting shakier as she went.

Nijimura furrowed his eyebrows and spoke before he could stop himself. "You're not as weak as you think." He commented from where he stood, holding the door open.

Their heads whipped up and stared at him, shocked he was there. "Nijimura." Lucy muttered, instantly recognizing him.

"I heard it from Daiki. During that festival, you beat up three fully grown men, fit for their age, as if it was nothing." He said. During the bus-ride back to Tokyo, Aomine had told him all about what he'd witnessed. And though Nijimura had had a few, short spars with the girl himself, she had shown nothing like that. So he was surprised, to say the least. "I don't know how things are in your world, but I know that's not weak." He told her.

Lucy smiled at him, wiping her eye from tears. "I guess you could say that." She agreed. Like the other six, she didn't want Nijimura to see her weakness either. She'd had no choice the other day, now she did.

The Lion Spirit visibly deflated and looked depressed. "Does that mean I can't be your knight in shining armor any longer?!" He asked, almost panicked. Somehow in the middle of swooning like a damsel, he managed to mouth a 'thank you' to Nijimura.

The blonde giggled and ruffled his hair as if it had really been the mane of a Lion. It was only just now the basketball player noticed there were a pair of well-disguised ears in the guy's hair. "Don't worry, my Knight, I'll save someone for you." She said, to which he winked and brought her hand to his mouth to place a kiss there. She shook her head at his antics. "I'll be all right now, Loke. Thank you." She said, gave him a hug and watched as he disappeared with a deep bow. She sent the almost silent spectator a bright smile, though the recent troubles she'd faced were showing on her face. "Let's go in and find Shinta!" She said, walking towards him.

His eyes widened a little as he remembered his friend was actually waiting for the two of them in there, holding a pair of seats for them. "Yeah." He agreed, and just as he did that, his phone buzzed in his pocket. A message from the devil himself. "Hey, the match is about to start soon, so if she's up to it come in. I'm at row 2D, seat 15 - 17." He muttered as he read the message sent to him.

"Oh, right. I have a hangover." The blonde muttered thoughtfully and her brain agreed with a throb of pain. "Well, I'm feeling fine, so let's go in and watch the match." She reassured him.

He observed her for a moment, then nodded. She'd know if she couldn't handle it. Though she'd probably give it a little more than it could handle before leaving, knowing her.

They went inside and quickly found the guy they'd been looking for, sitting with two vacant seats to his right, as he was waving around wildly with his arms to catch their attention, having caught sight of them before they did him.

Once the two got seated, with Nijimura in the middle, the blonde thanked the guy for holding a seat for her too, he only shook his head. "It's no problem." He said dismissively. "How's the pain doing?" He asked.

Lucy smiled at him, as if what had happened outside, both events, hadn't ever happened. "I can hardly even feel anything now, thank you." She reassured him as another, though only light, throb went through her from up to down.

"Oh? That's good." He said and leaned back in his seat as the two teams came out on the court. Judging from the crowd, anyway.

"Ohh! Here they are!" The crowd yelled as the team clad in mostly white jerseys with red and black appeared at their entrance. "Good luck, Seirin!" The commentator yelled loudly over the roaring crowd. Somehow though, it seemed the 'good luck' was meant to be some sort of pitying statement, probably because of their opponent. Whoever they were.

She soon found that the team the crowd was here for weren't Seirin, it was their opponent, only validating her suspicion with that 'good luck'. The team dressed in entirely black jerseys stepped out on the court, much more intimidating than Seirin, who'd had this slightly nervous feeling about them.

"WHOOOOO! Here they come!" The crowd roared right alongside the commentator. "How many points are they gonna score today?!" He continued yelling into his mic.

Lucy's eyes widened as she realized exactly who were up against each other. Seiring versus Tōō. Kuroko versus Aomine. The shadow fighting his former light.

The commentator continued on. "They achieved rapid growth in the past few years and surpassed numerous veterans, placing 2nd in the Interhighs…" He said dramatically, introducing the team. Rude, seeing as he didn't even bother introducing Seirin. "The super offensive team that instantly became one of the most anticipated winners of the competition, the newly crowned Tyrant, Tōō Academy!" He said, raising his voice as he went, sending the crowd into cheers with his words. "And the genius scorer of the Generation of Miracles, Aomine Daiki!" He introduced their ace, once again the crowd went wild.

Lucy whipped around to her two companions and stared at them with comically wide eyes. "Aomine and Kuroko are playing against each other?!" She exclaimed loudly at the two guys.

Shinta nodded. "Yeah, of course. You didn't know?" He asked her, puzzled.

"NO!"

Nijimura shrugged. "I guess the runts didn't find that piece of information important when they met you again." He reasoned. "But yeah, the match between Tōō and Seirin has been awaited eagerly ever since it has been introduced." He said.

"Why?" Lucy asked curiously. From what she understood, no one knew much about Kuroko, so they most likely didn't know about the clash between the former teammates.

Shinta looked at her as if she was crazy. Nonetheless, he explained. "Well, unlike where your 'excitement' comes from, these guys don't know about Kuroko and Aomine having once been on the same team." He said, gesturing around to the people all around him. "They're here because those two played against each other in the Interhighs and it was a fairly close match too. They're excited to see how it ends." He said and turned his gaze down to the players on the court. "Especially the Kagami versus Aomine thing has got 'em riled up."

Lucy followed his gaze, seeing the red haired guy she'd met less than an hour ago talking with their young coach, shedding their jerseys. "Light versus light, huh?" She said, mostly to herself.

Nijimura nodded, being the only one who understood what she meant. But it was probably more like 'Former light versus light'.

"It's time." The commentator said, dramatic as all commentators tended to be, over the speakers. "Both schools, please line up." As he did that, the two teams met in the middle, standing on line in front of each other.

The crowd watched, almost silent, as there was a momentary stare-down between Kagami and Aomine. Though no one could hear what was being said, it was probably something about getting things settled this time around. Especially when Kuroko joined the stare-down as well. Not many seemed to notice that though.

"And now." The commentator said, gaining full attention again. "The match between Seirin high school and Tōō Academy will commence." He said, with the two teams lined up in front of each other, giving each the one they stood in front of a handshake.

Kuroko in front of Sakurai, Kagami and Aomine, Izuki and the small forward of Tōō, Hyuuga and Imayoshi, Kiyoshi and Wakamatsu. It almost seemed they stood that way because of their heights, it was more or less the same.

Looking down, it was beyond obvious that the two teams were ready to give 120 percent of what they had in them. It was a tenseness Lucy had seen quite a few times in her own team and guild-mates now, that readiness. The determination not to lose and never to give in.

Unknowingly to herself, she leaned forward as the tip off was announced by a blown in a whistle and the throwing of the basketball. Wakamatsu and Kiyoshi jumped up after the ball, hands in the air, reaching after the ball as if it was their last lifeline. One hand reached its lifeline and pushed the ball into the hands of his captain, Hyuuga.

Hyuuga proceeded to throw the ball into the hands of Izuki, who'd already set into a run. The rest of Seirin quickly charged towards Tōō's goal, where the opposing team was already at the defense. Izuki was immediately pressured by Imayoshi, who attempted stealing the ball.

Seeing no other way with the immense pressure he was under, Izuki passed the ball to Hyuuga again. However, Wakamatsu had seen it coming, and stole the ball when it was still midair, sending it off to Sakurai. The little, nervous guy looked around, and seeing Hyuuga approaching, threw the ball towards the goal.

To everyone's surprise, it flew over and behind the backboard, where Aomine grabbed it when it came right under the backboard and slammed it through the hoop, all in a single jump.

"WOW! ALLEY-OOP!" The crowd screamed, as Lucy just stared, dumbfounded at what she was witnessing.

This level of play was nothing like what she had seen before. She was speechless. Of course, she knew that the level had risen from when they were young and first years at Teiko, she'd witnessed and experienced it a pair of times already. Playing with Kise and Aomine. But…

They'd set the level down then. So she could keep up and wouldn't be left in the dust, confused and spinning. The speed at which they passed and played each other, it far surpassed what she'd ever seen played. Faster than how she'd played with those at Fairy Tail. She couldn't understand how they could keep track of the ball like this. It seemed it was everywhere all at once, even to her.

"How is.." She trailed off, silently. She couldn't form any more words, that was how surprised she actually was. And this was the beginning of the game! They'd hardly even started, just what was she going to be seeing from this 'most anticipated match'? And the matches in the future.

Nijimura turned to her, and almost laughed at her surprised expression. "Yeah, the plays have upped quite a bit since what you remember." He told her, smiling. "Especially for those runts." He added, sending her a sideways glance. "I doubt you could win against them like you used to."

Lucy looked at him smugly. "Oh don't worry, I've got an ace up my sleeve, should I need it." She promised him, thinking of the playing style she used in Earthland. It wasn't certain she would win against them with that, but it would throw them off, if nothing else.

Shinta shook his head. "Gotta be some ace you got there, those boys are some beasts. Especially if you get them one on one." He commented.

She smiled as Kuroko made some ridiculous pass, which flew right through Aomine's hand, over the court and into Kiyoshi's hand. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." She said mystically as Kiyoshi jumped to dunk, only to have Wakamatsu fighting against that. However, right as it seemed there was no way but for the ball to slam into Wakamatsu's hand, Kyoshi turned it around and passed it to Kagami, though it should have been impossible to have reflexes like that. Kagami then proceeded to dunk the ball in, making the scores tie between them. "What just happened?" Lucy asked, confused with how Kiyoshi could do that.

"Oh that." Shinta said, keeping an eye on Kiyoshi. "I don't know if you know, but Kiyoshi down there is known as an Uncrowned King, someone at the level of the Miracles, basically." He explained. Though Lucy had heard this before, she listened intently. "He's got what's called 'Right of Postponement'. Which means that in a split second, he can change what he was about to do, as you saw just now." He told her, to which Nijimura nodded, agreeing with the explanation.

"Amazing.." She muttered. It was like they all had magic, just as she did. Kiyoshi with this 'Right of Postponement', Kuroko with his low presence and that pass right then, Kise and Haizaki's copy/stealing ability, Midorima's shots had probably gotten so good they could easily be confused with magic at this point and then Akashi's 'Emperor Eye', if she remembered correctly, though she didn't know what he could do yet. It seemed like the magic of Earth.

Meanwhile, Tōō had scored two goals, getting a little ahead of Seirin by exploiting the weakness of Kuroko's height, by making high passes, so that he couldn't use the one advantage and skill he had in the game, and steal them. Generally though, their two scores weren't anything special, they were pretty basic. Aomine wasn't even the one to score.

The big problem about this though, was that it depicted the level gap between the two teams. Which was a problem for Seirin.

Knowing that, Kagami decided to do something about it. He was in front of Aomine, silently, implicitly between the two, and the whole arena, they knew the one-on-one between aces would be commencing.

"Oh shit, that's a dangerous move." Shinta muttered, resting his elbows on his knees, leaning slightly forward and covering his mouth with his folded hands as he watched Aomine and Kagami glaring at each other intensely.

Lucy looked at him confusedly and Nijimura quickly explained. It seemed there were a lot of things she didn't know about basketball. "The thing is, if Kagami can't turn this around, then the match is basically lost for Seirin. Everything's on his shoulders." He told her. None of them had moved an inch since the challenge had been laid. Finally the Seirin player threw the ball to his teammate. "It seems he knows he can't beat Aomine as it is." Nijimura muttered as Seirin called for a timeout.

The crowd around them began muttering around them about the disappointment of the one-on-one being called off. Shinta only shook his head at them. "Idiots. They don't realize that guy didn't simply 'give up'." He muttered mainly to himself, though both of his companions could hear him clearly. "Kagami read what would happen if he went against Aomine and deduced he'd lose, he didn't give up." He muttered almost angrily.

Lucy cast her eyes to the court again, where the two teams cuddled together and talked about tactics. She took a moment to look around at the arena, noticing exactly how many people were actually gathered here.

Then she noticed a bright tuft of blonde hair, the same color as her own, sticking out from the brown and black haired crowd. Kise. Though he was basically sitting on the other side of the court, their eyes met for a moment, before he averted them to the two teams again.

She frowned. She hoped it wouldn't be long before what happened earlier would be forgotten and they could return to normal. She knew that was what sparked that reaction from him. And then maybe also the fact that Nijimura in all likelihood had told them a little about what happened to Kozo and such when she had left. Some of those guys tended to be quite stubborn. It was probably only Kise and Aomine who put their tenacity to words though.

She sighed internally and looked around, searching for the other Miracles she knew were out there, watching this math. She quickly found Murasakibara sticking out like a sore thumb next to who could only be Himuro, then there was Midorima not far from them as well, seemingly with Takao. And then… Akashi, with his team. They were all here.

Once again, the match started with the Seirin team holding the ball. They approached the opposing team, but before they even came close to where they'd been before, Izuki passed the ball to Hyuuga, who was 'guarded' by Sakurai, who thought the guy would be coming close to the goal. Much to his surprise, the glassed captain took a step back and scored a three pointer, just like that. It almost seemed his personality had changed with all the confidence he was exuding.

Sakurai, in response, also seemed to suddenly change his personality, though it was much more drastic for him, seeing as he, by nature, was a very nervous and humble guy, and suddenly he came up on the top ten of the most confident people she knew. Borderline arrogance.

And just like that, a 3-point-war started between Hyuuga and Sakurai, each scoring with every shot they got, creating a complete stalemate between the two teams, which lasted right until there were only 5 seconds remaining of the 1st quarter.

Which was when Kuroko decided that now was the time they caught up to Tōō. He quickly used his misdirection to drive right past the defending player against him, though she had no idea how he could do that, holding the ball which was usually where he led the attention, so he could pass the ball to Hyuuga, who landed yet another 3-pointer, equaling the score between the two teams.

"They're tied!" The commentator somehow screeched over the loud buzzer. "Seirin's amazing! They caught up at the buzzer!" He yelled, basically stating the obvious.

Soon enough, the second quarter began, once again with Seirin starting with the ball. Much to _everyone's_ surprise, Kuroko went right up to Aomine with the ball, clearly challenging his former teammate and light.

Kuroko immediately went into the same drive as he did before after a few words were exchanged, getting past Aomine. Almost. Aomine had seen it coming, so he closed his eyes to nullify the misdirecting quality of Kuroko's play and could read his movement that way, taking a step back and stealing the ball right out of the little, blue haired guy's hands. For anyone else, that wouldn't have been possible. But because Aomine and Kuroko had played so closely together their first year, he could pull this off, closing his eyes and still playing.

Aomine proceeded to score at the other end and that marked the point where Seirin's spirits were truly shaken. The point gap slowly widened and though they were giving it their all, their attempts were futile against the much stronger team.

It didn't help any when Kuroko got reckless and sent the powerful pass down the court, right into Aomine's hands, which were prepared for it this time. Sending what seemed to be some quite sharp words Kuroko's way, the ace of Tōō once again went down the court, aiming to score, driving past Izuki easily.

Kagami jumped up at the same time as he did, determined not to let the ball pass, but with another one of his formless shots, almost sent vertically up and into the backboard, he somehow managed to score anyway.

Seirin attempted attacking again, but the ball was stolen from them by Imayoshi, who passed it to Wakamatsu, which then also resulted in a goal to the Tōō team. That's when Seirin called for another timeout.

Lucy sighed. "They're really in a pinch…" She muttered, not really speaking to anyone, but just saying it to say it. However, if Seirin didn't get just a little breeze of a tailwind soon, to turn this around, it would be impossible for them to win this. She only got a pair of grunts in agreement with her statement.

The match began again, but this time Seirin left Kuroko out on the bench to let him cool down and sent the big, silent guy Koganei had been hiding behind out. Mitobe, if she remembered correctly.

But with the absence of Kuroko, it seemed a fire was lit in Kagami, if the glare he sent Aomine's way was anything to go by. So, when they attacked the black team again, the ace of Seirin sent the ball to their center, Kiyoshi, who with the help of a screen from Izuki, came around Wakamatsu and landed a goal for the Seirin team.

And finally, the long awaited 'match' between the aces came around. Aomine, with the ball, facing Kagami, ready to defend. The redhead's posture was so similar to Aomine's you'd think they'd practiced it. A little lower than usual, Kagami was positioned so that he was ready to pounce as soon as Aomine made a move.

And when the blue haired ace did, the redheaded ace pounced, completely going for the kill as he pushed the ball right out of his opponent's hands. Aomine quickly reacted though and spun around, grabbing the ball with him as he came past Kagami, jumping up, ready to shoot. Likewise, Kagami also quickly reacted, jumping up behind Aomine with some ridiculous jumping, hitting the ball out of Aomine's hands.

"Seems he finally figured it out." Shinta muttered from where he sat with his head resting in the hand which's elbow was prodded up on his knee as he stared at the match going on. "Finally we get to see some action from that guy."

Nijimura nodded. "He's too reliant on Kuroko, lowering himself because of it. It's about time he released his true potential on those runts. They need the wake-up call." He agreed with his friend.

Lucy looked down at the court again, seeing everyone surprised by the burst of power Kagami had displayed. However Aomine's expression turned to something more alike excitement. So this was the side of Kagami, which could match the Miracles, as she'd heard?

Just because of him, the whole atmosphere changed down there though. Not only was Kagami now giving his 100 percent, it seemed Aomine was ready to do the same thing.

In a split second, both aces set into movement. As fast as they'd gone before, it was nothing compared to how fast they went now. Aomine jumped up and threw the ball towards the hoop, where Wakamatsu prepared to complete the alley-oop. However… That hadn't been Aomine's intention, as he followed up and quite literally stole the ball right in front of Wakamatsu's eyes, slamming it down through the hoop behind him, doing a backshot.

While Aomine seemed to warn Wakamatsu to stay away while he dealt with Kagami, pissing Wakamatsu off much more than he should, Seirin was once again on the offense. Kagami was immediately given the ball, facing off against Aomine again.

Koganei went in, attempting a screen against the opposing team's ace to help Kagami out. As the redhead began moving to the right, Aomine easily twirled around Koganei as if he wasn't even there, coming to the defense right in front of Kagami.

Seirin's ace did a quick crossover, standing right in front of Koganei as he jumped up. Aomine jumped as well, sandwiching the poor, cat-faced guy between the two superpowers. The redhead released the ball before Aomine could take it and scored two points for his team.

"Amazing." Nijimura muttered as Kagami took one of Aomine's formless shots. "And they're not even at their best yet." He added.

The blonde just looked at him wide-eyed. They could get stronger than this? At this point their teams couldn't even keep up with them any longer. The whole match was centered between those two aces. And they could go further than this?

It was clear as day that even with her little ace up the sleeve, she would not be having any chances of winning against these guys if they went all out against her. She wasn't stupid. Not that stupid anyway. It seemed she should take the basketball playing she did on Earthland with Capricorn a little more seriously if she wanted to keep up with these guys.

The match between the two continued on and it slowly began showing that Aomine was actually really having a difficult time getting a shot in on the redhead. Meanwhile, said redhead only seemed to get better with every shot he either took or sent off. And even more so, he was beginning to look like a predator, whose prey was the basketball. His instincts seemed to rule supreme, heightening his reflexes exponentially. The magic of Earth. She would hardly get surprised if he suddenly began snarling at Aomine.

Right as the 2nd quarter ended, Kagami sent off a formless shot, a copy of Aomine's. The blue haired guy managed to change its path in the last second, so the ball took a pair of rounds in the hoop before jumping out and away. With that, the buzzer sounded.

"It's the half-time break now. The second half, 3rd quarter, will start in 10 minutes." The speakers sounded.

Lucy released a breath she hadn't known she'd held in, but apparently desperately needed to breathe out. "God, you get tense just watching the match." She breathed out. She found this break was very much needed.

Shinta nodded, cracking his neck as he relaxed back in his seat again. "No kidding, and we're not even playing." He sighed. "Kinda glad we're not playing in the Winter Cup though, we'd be completely crushed if we were up against something like those beasts down there." He muttered.

Nijimura shook his head. "They're only like that because it's them. If Aomine had been up against anyone else, he'd not do as he is right now. Likewise Kagami wouldn't give it his all if he wasn't up against one of the Miracles either." He reminded his teammate.

"Doesn't mean we have a chance either way." Shinta said, leaning back and tipping his head back with closed eyes.

Lucy smiled. "Well, you certainly won't if that's the attitude you have towards it." She agreed with him.

Shinta glanced at her with one eye open, one corner of his mouth turned upwards. "I guess you got a point there." He said and pulled himself up from the seat with a little jump. "Well, I'll get us something to eat and drink, I'm hungry." He said and walked off.

The blonde sighed. "I feel bad for making you two pay for everything. I have some money too, I can pay for myself." She reasoned with Nijimura, who'd shaken his head at her first sentence.

"Don't worry about it, we're doing it because we want to, not because we feel we have to." He promised her, waving her words off.

She could only reward him with a defeated sigh at that, he could be just as stubborn as she could sometimes. "I think I'll go and get some air for a moment, I'll be back before the second half." She promised him and quickly made her way outside.

Not once in the duration of this match had she seen Aomine smile, not even a little. The closest was some kind of evil-looking smirks when he tricked Kagami or Kuroko. His enjoyment of the game… Had it decreased? While his playing style was still as ferocious and quick as it had always been, it just lacked the energy he'd had when he was younger.

There she went again, comparing him to his old self. It was really hard not to though, she had nothing else to compare him with, so what was she to do other than that?

She was so lost in thought she didn't notice the two people walking towards her down the hallway before their two sets of feet came into her vision, which was directed at the floor, presently.

She immediately whipped her head up and looked at the two, surprised. "Oh! Sorry!" She said, having realized she had taken up a lot of space where she was walking in the middle of the hallway. That was when she recognized the two in front of her. "Oh.." She said, looking straight up into the gazes of Kagami and Kuroko.

 **Right, so I'm leaving it off at this. I had originally planned to fit the whole match in one chapter, but as you can see that'd be impossible without making a humongous chapter out of this one, and I don't really have time for that, as I came to start this a little later than I should have. Sorry. ._."**

 **I'll finish it next chapter though! Also, I'd like to hear what you all think of the way I explained this match so far. I haven't gone all in on the details, trying to keep it a little simple, both to cut down the length of the chapter, but also because while the matches are important, it is mostly what happens outside of them, which has the heavy weight in my story. I guess.  
But, when I do it like this, does it get boring? Or is it still too long? I can't change it much for the last half of the match, but I can change it accordingly for the other matches we'll get around. **

**Anyway, enough about all that. Hope you enjoyed! And thank you very much for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing!**

 **~Line464d**


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 **Now then, I will be finishing the match today!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own anything. Really, only Shinta in this chapter is of my own creation out of all the characters XD**

 **Earth~**

"Kagami, Kuroko." She said, surprised to see the two here. What'd they been doing, being away from their team like this? Wouldn't they get cold?

"Lucy." Kuroko sort of greeted her. Ish. "Are you feeling better?" He asked her, his sky blue eyes boring right into her like drills.

The blonde sighed and scratched the back of her head gently. "Ah, so Nijimura told you? How embarrassing…" She said with a low voice as she laughed a little, though it was hollow. So he had told them, as she expected.

"Don't worry about it." Kagami commented, crossing his arm lightly over his chest. "So what're you doing out here, Blondie?" He asked her curiously.

"Oh, I was just going to get some fresh air for a while, so…" She said, trailing off as she wondered how to proceed with this already increasingly awkward conversation. And what was with that nickname?

A thick cloud of awkward silence lay around the little group, the air almost too heavy to let anyone speak through it. Finally, Kuroko cleared his throat, deciding it was about time the silence was broken once again. "Well, I believe we should get back to our team." He commented, adjusting his jersey by the sleeves.

Lucy quickly straightened up. "Oh, yeah! Of course!" She quickly said and shuffled to make space for the two of them, moving towards the wall.

Kagami looked at her for a moment, before shaking his head lightly. "You're a strange one, Blondie." He told her seriously.

The blonde looked at him with wide eyes. "Huh?" She asked, confused but also panicking a little. With what happened out there and with what Nijimura told them, whatever that could be, was he getting suspicious of her?

"One moment you are out there, stopping that redhead from stabbing me as if it was nothing and then told him off, now you're here, acting like some nervous, little girl whose deepest secrets have been revealed." He explained. He gave her a crooked smile and placed his hand on top of her head. "Thanks for the save, by the way." He thanked the baffled blonde as he walked past her, back towards his team. "Come on, Kuroko, we need to get warm again." He said, with his back to the both of them.

Kuroko nodded, waved at Lucy, then hurried after his teammate. She shook herself out of her trance and smiled, waving at them though they didn't see it. "Good luck with the match! I know you can beat them!" She called after them.

The little, blue haired guy sent a thumbs up to her, over his shoulder. "We'll do our best." He promised her as they disappeared around a corner.

She sighed, turned around and continued towards the outdoors where she had been headed. Bumping into those two like that, she'd thought it'd be a little more climatic than it was, but this was certainly better than some big scene.

Whether Kagami was suspicious of her or not… It didn't seem like it. He probably just thought her to be a little strange, which was fine. Besides, the first thing he'd think wouldn't be that she was from another world anyway, it wouldn't really be anyone's first though, in all honesty. She was probably just too worried, too paranoid they'd find out.

 **Not long after~**

Lucy trotted back to her seat and placed herself down on the seat next to Nijimura, who simply watched as she did that. "Was the fresh air nice?" He asked her curiously.

The blonde shook her head. "I only got more tense." She muttered. The time alone had given her a chance to just let the thoughts run. And they'd returned to the conclusion, that if Seirin didn't come out as the winners during this, it was unlikely anyone else would be able to beat the Miracles, except themselves. But even among them, there would be a team, which would be the strongest, with the gathered power of the rest of the team as well.

So if Seirin lost now… The only way to make them all lose would be lost. Though it was possible to wait a year, and then have Seirin give it a try again, it only got tougher for them the longer the wait.

There was absolutely no way Seirin was allowed to lose here. She had her faith in them all though, they'd pull through. They were just that kind of team. Or so it seemed, anyway.

But really, with her thoughts spinning around like they had, she'd returned more tense than she had left. And on top of that, the cool air outside only reawakened her headache. How that worked, she didn't know.

Either way, she was certainly cheering for the underdogs in this one, Seirin. And probably also the coming ones.

"Well, you came at just the right time!" Shinta said as he helda squared, thin box with some round food right under her nose, letting the delicious smell enter her nose. "There's nothing like pizza when you have a hangover." He said and sent her wink.

Pizza? Ah, yes, she'd gotten that once before, when Hinata hadn't felt much like cooking. It was strangely delicious.

With a smile, she took a long, thin slice of the pizza offered. "Thank you, it's just what I need." She agreed, taking a bite of the heavenly food and almost groaning at how good and needed it actually was.

Shinta laughed at her quite visible reaction at the food. "Thought you'd like it." He said with a big smile and placed a bottle of what she believed was cola in her cup holder. "You're welcome." He said with a smirk.

She swallowed the bite she'd been chewing on and smiled at the both of them. "You're being too good to me." She tried to convince them. If this continued on much longer, her conscience would get the better of her.

They both shook their heads just as the buzzer sounded, reminding them the match would be restarting. "Both teams are out… Finally the second round is starting." Nijimura muttered, having turned to the court, where the two teams had indeed gathered by the court.

"3rd quarter, the second half, will begin shortly." The speakers rang loudly above the murmuring crowd. A pause erupted as the last of the teams filtered in.

The atmosphere completely changed when Aomine stepped into sight though. He was smirking, sort of evilly, something he hadn't done since the beginning of the match. It was the kind of confident, yet thoroughly prepared smirks she'd seen on both Natsu, Gray and Gajeel's faces countless times when they faced off against either each other, or an enemy on equal standing with them, that they had no doubt they would win against. It was that kind of smirk.

Which meant he was seeing Kagami as someone strong, someone he could go all out against, though not someone he would lose against. A challenge, that was what Kagami was. This second half would no doubt be interesting.

"Intermission has ended." The speakers said. "As of now, the second half will commence." It said as the players filtered out on the court again. This time, Kuroko was once again on the field, ready to play. He, Aomine and Kagami were already eyeing each other.

"But what can Kuro-kun do at this point…" She wondered out loud. He'd been completely figured out by Aomine earlier, having his ridiculous pass taken right from him and his misdirecting drive also countered by the closing of Aomine's eyes. But Seirin must have a plan, since he's out again…

"It's started! Tōō starts with the ball!" The commentator screamed into his mic as the two teams took their positions on the court, Tōō with the ball in hand. Imayoshi, the one currently with the ball, looked at Izuki, his defense, reading the black haired guy's defense. In any case, it didn't matter much, as the ball was passed to Aomine.

Even Kagami could clearly feel that Aomine was prepared in a whole other way then he had been in the earlier half. And this was validated as Aomine drove past him in a burst of speed, much faster than he had been before. None had time to react, and even Teppei, who was in the center, the next one in line of defense, knew that there was no way he could take this ball. This was a ball to Tōō, further separating their scores from each other.

However suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Kuroko was there, and had been hit by Aomine, falling to the ground. "Number 5, black jersey! Charging!" The judge on the field called at Aomine.

The crowd went crazy. "WHA?! IT'S AOMINE'S FOUL?!" They shrieked, more or less. It seemed Kuroko had realized there was no other way, and through being able to read Aomine's movement, he used his misdirection to slip into his path, so that he would be hit. Reckless move…

With Kagami quickly helping Kuroko up, Seirin once again had the ball, and were charging at the opponent team. Izuki swiftly passed the ball once he was close enough to the defense, right towards Kuroko. Lucy half expected he would attempt something or pull a new move out of his sleeve, but instead he just passed it on to Kagami. So it would seem he was only there to back up Kagami when they were in the defense, and then be passing the ball around in the offense…

Or not, she found, as he was passed the ball from Teppei, from where he made his ridiculous pass out of nowhere, though it didn't seem as forceful as the other ones, having it land in Hyuuga's hands, though it didn't seem comfortable for the captain. The captain proceeded to score a three pointer for the Seirin team, making them the leading team in points, with a mere one point, for the first time in the entire match.

"Whoa, it went in! A 3-pointer! The first points of the second half go to Seirin!" The commentator announced loudly.

"Alright defense! Let's stop them!" Hyuuga called, to which the others agreed loudly, completely ready for the oncoming attackers. It was sort of funny how the whole team sort of changed when Kuroko was on the field. It was a good change though.

Like many others seemed to have, Imayoshi's atmosphere had changed as well, which became apparent when he had the ball. It was like a dark cloud of confidence erupted behind him. He had a plan.

"Tōō's trying to catch up! Can they stop Seirin's energy?!" The commentator asked rhetorically over the mic.

Out of nowhere, Imayoshi jumped up, much to Izuki's surprise. When the Serin member jumped up to defend though, the captain of the opposing team quickly passed the ball to Wakamatsu, having feinted the shot. The center the Tōō team easily delivered the ball to the net, gaining two points and thereby having taken the lead once again, which the commentator also was quick to let everyone know.

Seirin once again had the ball and were at the offense once again. Unexpectedly, suddenly Imayoshi was guarding Kuroko. Worst of it all was, he was doing it perfectly. Instead of staring at him like most would to keep an eye on him, Imayoshi was not even making eye-contact with the little, blue haired guy.

"Shit…" Lucy murmured to herself. They had either figured it out, or Momoi had told them. No, it was definitely Momoi. You'd have to know Kuroko's misdirection at first hand to could know how to counter it like that. It wasn't like he spread it far and wide, after all.

It was when you made eye-contact with Kuroko you were caught in his misdirection, that was when he'd slip from you. Instead, you should keep your sights on the ones he'd either take a pass from, or the ones who'd receive a pass from him.

However Imayoshi didn't only do that. He completely barred Kuroko from even receiving a pass, much less escaping his sights. So with him locked from escaping and thereby passing the ball around and countering his misdirection like he had, Kuroko was rendered completely useless.

"I heard that guy Imayoshi is really scary to be up against." Shinta commented through bites of his pizza. "He's a monster at playing mind games, he can read someone completely from their expressions and habits." He explained, swallowing the bite he'd had in his mouth. "No one is better at doing what you don't want him to, than he is."

Meanwhile, Tōō had stolen the ball from Seirin and made it to the other side. Imayoshi received the ball, jumped up and scored a three pointer just as Shinta finished, as if to emphasize his point.

"And a 3-pointer! Tōō has widened the gap in one go!" He yelled. 49 - 53. Seirin were having trouble.

With the white team once again in the offense, Hyuuga attempted one of his shots, the ones where he took a step back, however Sakurai had been prepared for it. Probably also because of Momoi, she was as sharp as they came.

Lucy did quickly find though, she needed to figure out what all these new techniques were called, it would make things easier.

Either way, everyone on the Seirin team were so strongly marked now, it was beyond compare to the first half. Kuroko could barely even move with Imayoshi at him, Hyuuga was having a tough time with Sakurai and likewise did Teppei with Wakamatsu, Izuki wasn't having an easy time either. Not to mention Kagami, he had Aomine to deal with, seemingly all by his lonesome.

And he realized that too, and it sent a shiver up his spine as he was once again facing off against the ace of the Miracles. But that moment, barely the length of a second, was enough for Aomine to could steal the ball right out of his hands.

Though Aomine was quick, Hyuuga somehow managed to come into a defensive position in front of the ace. Without any signs of hesitation, Aomine got around Hyuuga as if he had just been a mere statue, unable to do anything. Fortunately, the moment it took for him to readjust, was enough for Kagami to could take his own defensive position in front of the charging Aomine.

"Like hell I'll let you through!" The redhead shouted loud enough for the whole arena to could hear it clearly. They both jumped up, and seemingly Kagami had this one in the bag. However, as if they had been on the ground rather than midair, Aomine spun around him and dunked the ball behind the redhead's defense.

While the whole stadium were almost completely silent in pure shock, the commentator was going crazy. "WAAAAH?! What was that just now?! He did a 360 in the air and dodged!" He shrieked, not much different from a banshee. "It's like he's superhuman!"

She couldn't deny his words though, it really did seem like something taken right out of her own world. Something which should be impossible here.

"Hmm… It seemed Kagami isn't the only one who has awakened his 'animal instinct'." Nijimura muttered. Lucy turned to him quizzically, and he continued. "Aomine hasn't been playing basketball seriously for a long, long time, and the animal instinct only works when you give it your all. It had grown dull in its lack of use all these years, but it has come back to him slowly during this match."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't entirely sure she understood yet. "But what is this 'animal instinct'?" She asked. Sure, from the name she had some guesses, but still.

"Basically." Shinta said, drawing attention to himself. "It's something we all have, but only few can access. When you can though, all your senses are enhanced. Speed and reflexes too are increased, as you can see from Aomine. Both Kagami and Aomine has it now, it seems." He explained curtly. He snorted. "This is not going to be much of a team-match anymore, it's going to be more like an Aomine versus Kagami thing." He informed her.

And from the way things were headed, she couldn't disagree. Not that there was much chance of the Seirin team to play much like a team, with all their moves being predicted the way they were right now. The point gap was just widening between the two teams, faster and faster, with Seirin basically getting nowhere.

Before anyone had had the chance to look around, the score was 56 to 70, in Tōō's favor. At this point, the 3rd quarter was also almost over.

They had been doing so well before, but now it seemed almost impossible. Imayoshi wasn't marking Kuroko any longer, but that was only because it wasn't necessary. Every single member of Tōō Academy could clearly see Kuroko.

It was the same weakness as he had always had with misdirection. The longer he was out on the field, the less effective it was. And he had been out for a long time, been completely figured out by Imayoshi and locked completely from doing anything.

"They're completely out of options." Nijimura commented, all three of them staring intently at the match below them. "Seirin has lost."

Lucy agreed that it was definitely how things looked right now. But how many times had she not seen this situation in her own world? When everything seemed lost, that they had no chance of winning, did they not always pull through? One way or another, Fairy Tail had always won. She could easily see the spirit of Fairy Tail covering the Seirin team, it was the completely same mentality the two had.

She shook her head lightly. "I'm not so sure of that." She replied.

And just as she did that, Kuroko looked up from where he had been looking down, right at his new defender. "We will win now!" He declared confidently. And with that, the rest of the team also got that confident look in their eyes.

The blonde smiled smugly at her two companions. "Told you." She said, while the two just looked baffled, just like the rest of the crowd and players. Not a single one of them had given up, not in the slightest. If anything, their fighting spirit was even stronger than before, if she knew them right.

Izuki was facing off against Imayoshi, and she could almost imagine the conversation they were having. Imayoshi was convinced that though their fighting spirit shone brighter than ever, it was still not enough for them to could win, especially with Kuroko's misdirection down.

Now, Izuki's words, she was actually surprised with. They rang clearly in the room, though he didn't seem to speak loudly at all. "Now that's not quite right…" He said, smiling a little. "It didn't run out, we _made_ it run out." He told the other's captain, before disappearing right before the man's eyes. Suddenly, Izuki was behind Imayoshi, jumping up and scoring a ball.

Or, well.. That was probably what it would seem like for Imayoshi himself, for the audience it just seemed Imayoshi hadn't reacted at all. Which the commentator was also quick to point out. "Waah! It went in!" He cheered. "No, more importantly, just now.. Imayoshi couldn't react at all?!"

"WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!" Someone from said audience yelled impossibly loudly, asking the question everyone were thinking.

Watching it unfold and Izuki's words… Lucy realized what happened. "It's Kuro-kun's true trump card… Izuki just used that vanishing drive on Imayoshi, Kuro-kun's move. He can do that, because Kuro-kun is drawing all attention to himself." She explained to no one in particular.

Nijimura's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. "When it runs out, the exact opposite happens. Usually Kuroko misdirects people's attention to the ball, now he is using himself as the ball, so everyone else can disappear before the opponents' eyes. Amazing." He elaborated.

She merely nodded as she kept her full attention on the court.

Tōō were so confused by the sudden turn of events, even their captain made a stupid pass, which Hyuuga easily stole. Likewise, he also easily drove right past Sakurai, further confirming her theory.

"It must be a like a sudden tenth player has been added to a court which only has 9 players, they can't keep their eyes off him." Shinta commented.

Nijimura nodded. "Yeah, but that move comes with several risks." He said. "Firstly, the time. It can only be used by the end of the game, and it can't last for long either, probably not even until the end of the game." He said, then his eyes narrowed a little, focusing on Kuroko. "And the worst of them, he's throwing away the future." He said vaguely.

His friend looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean, Niji? The 'future' is a bit much." He reasoned.

The former captain of the Miracles simply continued his explanation. "Right now, Kuroko is essentially doing magic tricks while revealing how it works." He said.

The blonde caught on to what he meant. "Which means that once this match ends…" She continued right where Nijimura left off.

Likewise, Shinta had now also figured it out. "Misdirection won't ever work against Tōō Academy again…" He ended it. "Shit."

Nijimura nodded. "That's to put it lightly." He said. "Those two teams are both in the Tokyo division, they'll have to be up against each other more than once after this."

If Lucy had to say anything, it would seem like these two were twins with how they finished each other's sentences. "No matter how much Kagami and the others improve, Tōō isn't an opponent you can win against without a trump card." Twin #2 continued.

Twin #1 nodded. "Which means, with this huge gamble, Seirin has thrown away the possibility of winning against Tōō after this." He completed the sentence.

"That's true." The blonde agreed. "But for them, that's definitely better than losing right here and now." She said, drawing from what she knew of her own guild's thought process. "When they will be up against Tōō next time, they'll cross that bridge then." She said, a smile on her lips.

With this said, Kagami received the ball and used the vanishing drive on Aomine, dunking the ball in the net behind him. With this comeback, the scores were slowly growing more equal, 62 to 70.

"Whoa! Finally an 8-point difference! They're down to one digit!" The commentator cheered in his mic. "As the 3rd quarter is about to end, Serin has caught up to a one digit difference!" He yelled, basically repeating himself.

Meanwhile, Imayoshi had calmed down a little on top of all the hype going on. And with a calm demeanor, he shot the ball into the air, well behind the 3-point arc, though he was no shooter.

It was clear none from the Seirin team actually believed it would go in, and Teppei was preparing himself underneath the net. Shinta sighed. "They got it all wrong. Imayoshi is truly the master at doing what no one wants him to, and he wants to crush their spirits as quickly as possible. He's making the one digit difference a two digit difference." He said, certain with his words. "He's the kind who will pull through in situations like these."

And right as he was, Imayoshi indeed did score his three pointer, making the difference 11 points, right as the buzzer sounded. "Whoa! It went in?! Right before the end of the 3rd quarter…" The commentator trailed off dramatically. "It's a buzzer beater!"

"The 3rd quarter has ended. We will now have a 2 minute intermission." The speakers announced. The teams, quite exhausted, made their way to their benches, getting some water and talking about the last quarter.

Lucy breathed out a breath she hadn't realized she'd held in. This was getting crazier and crazier by the second. And it was only going to get crazier this last quarter, she had no doubt about that, a grand finale.

"This match, I swear." Shinta almost groaned. "They're probably all going to be like this if it's Miracle against Miracle. Or Kagami against Miracle." He said.

"There's no doubt they will." Nijimura agreed. "And Haizaki is here somewhere as well, with him the match would be just as tense." He added.

The blonde nodded. That, there was no doubt about.

Though it felt like eternity, the two minutes finally passed. "The final quarter is about to begin." The speakers told them all.

Seirin entered the stage with a battle cry, all as eager and ready to go as before, their confidence sky high. Meanwhile, Aomine seemed to have been completely lost in his thought ever since he sat his ass down on the bench, and hadn't even registered the two minutes were up, before Momoi called out to him.

Either way, both teams were once again out on the court, ready to give it their all these last 10 minutes of the game. Likewise was the commentator. "It's started! The final 4th quarter!" He exclaimed way too loudly in his mic. God, was she glad those pills were working, otherwise he had been strangled long ago.

Immediately, Hyuuga got the ball, and made a 3-pointer as quick as Sakurai would have, much faster than the glassed guy usually shot his balls. Payback, using their own methods. She liked it.

"Whoa! A three pointer! Out of nowhere…!" The commentator said, as quick as ever. "They went straight back to a single-digit difference!" He said loudly. Then added as an afterthought: "What a tough bunch! Even after that buzzer beater, they're still going strong as ever!"

At the other end of the court, Aomine received the ball, and in the middle of his jump, Lucy saw something that made her heart skip a beat. He was smiling. _Truly_ smiling. Not the smiles and smirks from before, the sort of evil ones, this was a true smile. One, which testified that he enjoyed the match, that he was ready to play with as much energy and vigor as he had when he was younger.

He was back.

"It worked…." She whispered so lowly to herself, she could barely even hear it. He didn't need to be defeated, as she had thought, what he needed was a strong opponent. What he needed was Kagami. Before anyone noticed - she thought - she wiped away the tear which had forced its way through her system.

Nijimura watched her silently. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but decided that he would ask her, when he had the chance.

Either way, the ball had landed, Aomine had scored. "It's in! Aomine is as great as ever…" The commentator announced. And right then, Aomine also stole the ball right out of Seirin's hands, scoring another goal. "And he gets the ball back right away!"

Hyuuga, seeing Kagami was having trouble facing Aomine, gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and reassured him everything was fine. Or so would be the blonde's guess.

In the attack, he was also the one to receive the ball. And without missing a beat, he jumped up and shot the ball at the goal, clearly confident that even if he did miss, which he didn't, his teammates would make sure they still had the ball.

"Whoa, it's in! That makes how many for him today?!" The commentator screamed. He was right though, Hyuuga had scored a lot of three pointers during this match.

Sakurai, flustered with this turn of events, decided he too could land a goal as Hyuuga had, so when he got the ball, he jumped up to score. Of course, his rhythm was way off, and Aomine could easily see that.

And he was irritated he would do something so reckless, he almost seemed to be growling. "Give it!" He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sakurai, even more flustered than before, and panicking because he knew he was about to make a mistake - and probably also because Aomine was basically snarling at him - quickly aborted his idea of scoring and passed to his ace, who was followed up by the opponent ace.

Aomine feinted right past Kagami, and approached Teppei. Once again, he feinted wanting to shoot, making Teppei jump up, then proceeded to get a little closer before actually jumping up, basically chest-to-chest with the Seirin center.

With this, he both drew a foul and scored a ball. Which meant.. "Pushing! White jersey number 7! Basket counts!" The judge called, having blown in his whistle. "One throw!" Tōō had gotten a free ball.

"The basket counts! It's a 3-point play!" The commentator screamed in his mic.

"Tōō isn't much for teamwork, it's all about the individual strength." Shinta said out of nowhere. "They do have one thing in common though. Their thirst for victory and their trust in their ace."

With that, Aomine easily scored the last point, completing the 3 points, for his team, as had been expected. "It's in!" The commentator yelled. "A 10-point difference again!"

With that as the mark, a period of no change arrived. The teams played back and forth for several minutes, but the 10-point difference never changed. Until finally, with less than 6 minutes left of the game, Seirin took action.

Aomine was with the ball, and was suddenly triple-teamed. Kiyoshi, Kagami and Kuroko, all banding together to stop the ace of Tōō. They simply had no other way. With everything going on, and Kagami being as strong as he was, it was still not enough to take Aomine on. They had to do this.

Of course, their defense was as tough as steel, there was no way Aomine could even pass to any of his teammates, not that that was his thing anyway.

But still, their defense was not thick enough. Aomine crouched low, the ball held in both of his hands, facing the goal. Teppei saw this and jumped up in defense. However, when Aomine jumped, he jumped towards the right, completely bypassing the center's defenses.

"How the hell can he move like that?!" The commentator asked, as engrossed in the match as everyone else.

Though it all seemed like Tōō's ball, suddenly Kagami was behind Aomine, in his blind spot. It was when it dawned on everyone, the intention had always been for Aomine to slip past them, so Kagami could block him from his blind spot.

Still though, Aomine wasn't going down. He quickly changed, somehow stopping himself mid-jump, dodging Kagami's block. And with that, he leaned a little to the side, shooting one of his formless shots off towards the net.

Quite unexpectedly though, it took a pair of rounds in the hoop, before jumping out again. "IT MISSED?!" Someone yelled, confused.

Though with Aomine glaring at Kuroko, it was easily to figure out. Kuroko had somehow forced Aomine to miss that ball. Probably with his opposite misdirection.

With Seirin once again holding the ball, Izuki quickly made it through to score a pair of points for his team, bringing the difference down to 6 points.

Though the Seirin team took a moment to celebrate, Hyuuga quickly noticed as Wakamatsu went to pick the ball up. "Don't pull back! Get on them!" He yelled loudly, she wouldn't be surprised if a vein suddenly burst on his head.

Then suddenly they were in a formation the blonde couldn't recognize. The commentator quickly saved her, for once. "Zone press?!" He yelled, as confused as everyone else seemed to be.

"More than zone press, it's a 1-2-1-1. It seems Seirin aim to take another ball." Nijimura commented. "Daring."

Though Lucy didn't quite understand what was going on, it was clear to see the huge amount of pressure Wakamatsu was suddenly under, not having many options to pass to his teammates. Nonetheless, he had to pass. And that he did to where the weakest link, or at least smallest link, of Seirin's formation was. Kuroko. Or maybe it was the reversed overflow.

He had underestimate the little guy though, as he caught the ball with a single hand, sending it off to Hyuuga, who immediately went for a three-pointer. Sakurai, in a desperate attempt to stop Hyuuga, rammed right into him, making them both fall to the floor and the judge blow in his whistle. "Pushing! Black no. 9!"

"So… In this situation." Shinta mumbled out loud. "The foul happened during a shooting defense maneuver and on top of it all, it was a 3-pointer…"

"Yeah, 3 free throws." Nijimura confirmed, glancing at the scoreboard. 80 to 86. "So if he scores with each throw, the difference can be closed with a single three pointer." He said.

Lucy looked down at the court again, where Seirin were more or less celebrating. "It's hard to predict how this match will actually end, huh?" She asked, to which the others simply nodded in agreement.

With Hyuuga being the one throwing the balls though, there was not much doubt he would land the ball with every throw.

Aomine had been placed in a different position altogether though. And as whether Hyuuga would land the ball or not was already decided, she watched Aomine for a moment. He was breathing in and out rhythmically, he was really focusing on something. Something which was probably inside himself. Preparing to give it everything he got the remaining time of the match?

"They got all in! It's a 3-point difference!" The commentator announced expectedly. And the crowd cheered, those who were cheering for the underdogs anyway.

The match continued though, and Imayoshi passed the ball to Aomine. Immediately Kagami was there to defend against him, though the blue haired guy barely even looked up.

If you blinked, you would have missed it, that was how quick Aomine passed Kagami, who was completely in shock. At the same time, Aomine calmly dribbled the ball on the other side, and just as calmly threw the ball into the net.

"Well… Seirin's in trouble now." Shinta commented.

Lucy turned her head to look at him, confused with what he meant. Though the explanation came from Nijimura. "Aomine reached what's called the 'Zone'. This is a state where you become so extremely focused, you make no unnecessary movements, everything gets turned to the top notch. It brings out the full potential of a player. It's something even top trained athletes are unlikely to come across, and if they do, it'll be accidentally." He explained.

Shinta nodded, once again turning the two into a pair of twins. "Only those who practice again and again are allowed to stand in front of that door, and even then, it'll only open on a whim." He said.

Twin #1 nodded in agreement. "It's the ultimate territory where only the chosen may enter, and they are few." He explained. "However, Aomine…" He trailed off, letting Twin #2 take over.

And take over, Twin #2 did. "Aomine's natural talent laughs at that though, and forces the door open." He said, just as Lucy noticed how Aomine's eyes seemed to be glowing blue.

"In other words, his skills has increased a lot?" She asked, for confirmation.

"No, his skills have increased so much, only another person in the Zone could ever hope to defeat him." Shinta corrected her. "A.K.A Seirin is screwed." He repeated his earlier words.

"Usually, you only play with about 80% of your full potential." Nijimura explained as Aomine stole the ball from Hyuuga as easily as he would have if it had been a kindergartener. "Until now, that's what he's been playing around with. Now, with him in the zone, those last 20% are at his disposal as well." He explained.

At the same time, Kagami and Izuki had moved to the defense, attempting to defend against the crazily overpowered ace. They stood as much chance as a tortoise would have in their situation. It was only because she was used to moving at so high speeds during games herself, she could even follow Aomine's movements.

He had made a crossover to the right, bypassing Izuki, then rolled to the left to pass Kagami, then proceeded to move forward, easily dunking right behind them. None of them had had any chance of reacting at that speed.

"His speed must have doubled, at least." Lucy muttered. She had never really given it her all speed-wise when playing against anyone here and that was simply because if she did, it would seem as inhuman as it seemed for Aomine to do it right now. The only moment she'd let her true speed shine was earlier out at the staircase when Akashi attacked Kagami. Other than then, she had never showcased her true speed here on Earth.

"Don't give up!" Hyuuga exclaimed, though he had seen the very same thing everyone else had. "Only five minutes left! We can do this!"

They got the ball again, and though Aomine was in the Zone, they still managed to pass the ball to Teppei, who scored a goal.

Aomine only smiled wider at their effort. And as soon as he got the ball again, he simply hurled it right at the net with one hand, landing one of those balls she had initially not thought she'd see outside Earthland.

"Wow! He made another one! Aomine is unstoppable!" The commentator screamed, actually very similar to how a fangirl would sound if they had a mic.

The point gap had widened again. 85 to 92.

"Seirin High School's timeout." The speakers sounded as each team drew to their corners. Just from watching, it seemed Seirin was in an uproar about something Kagami suggested, however it was soon accepted. Or that was what she guessed as Hyuuga put an arm around their ace's shoulder and the others had confident expressions. What could they be planning…? She had an idea, but it would be too reckless.

Though, when the match restarted, she found out it had been exactly what they were thinking about. "A one-on-one between Aomine and Kagami?!" The commentator screamed once again.

Aomine easily drove right past him and to the goal, landing yet another ball. Kagami stood no chance, this was a very reckless decision on their part…

"We'll counter no matter what!" Was what the white team hollered as they made it down the court, once again at the offense. Izuki went right at it against Imayoshi, but to his great surprise, the reversed misdirection Kuroko had been making was wearing off, letting Imayoshi push the ball right out of the Seirin player's hands.

The ball was way on its way over the boundary of the court, which would be fatal for Seirin in this moment. Kuroko realized this too. "Not yet!" He yelled and barely managed to push the ball away before it passed, resulting in him crashing to the floor.

Nevertheless, Hyuuga caught the ball and sent it into Teppei's hands, when he had called. Jumping over Wakamatsu, Teppei scored a goal for his team.

Tōō had the ball once again, and it was quickly sent to Aomine. Who proceeded to drive right past Kagami and land a goal of his own. Kagami got increasingly troubled with the fact that he couldn't take Aomine's balls. He probably felt like the whole thing was on his shoulders, and that if they didn't win, it'd all be because of him.

So with that, suddenly, when Aomine had the ball again and had passed the redhead, it was pushed right out of his hands by the redhead himself. In being able to do that, there was no doubt of what had happened. "Kagami has reached the Zone as well." She voiced her thoughts out loud.

The match was focusing solely on Aomine and Kagami after that. They were more or less equal, having both opened the door to the Zone. When Kagami attempted to dunk the ball in, Aomine took it. When Aomine attempted to land a ball, Kagami took it. The ball rarely left their hands. And if either lost the ball over the boundary and the others took the ball, it was immediately passed to the ace of their team. This had become a battle of aces. None of the others stood a chance. It was probably even dangerous for them to get in the crossfire between these two.

Even with elaborate techniques, such as rolling around the other and shooting from right behind him, still the other ace would hit the ball out of its course. It almost hit a photographer in the head, when it went out of bounds, to the black team.

"It's crazy. For a whole minute none of them has scored a single goal." Shinta muttered. "They're monsters."

Despite the somewhat desperate situation, Lucy couldn't help smiling. Aomine had always been the kind of player who sought strong opponents to play against. The stronger the opponent, the better. His eyes would shine so much brighter when he was up against someone he could really play against. Kind of like how they were shining right now.

To be honest, she would have wished for this to go on forever, if at all possible. Unfortunately, she was not that fortunate. The end of it, it came very abruptly.

Kagami was the one holding the ball. Suddenly, he rolled right past Aomine with crazy speed for his size, then jumped up and landed the ball right as he had passed the blue haired guy.

"HE PASSED RIGHT THROUGH HIM!" The commentator shrieked. The mic would probably break at some point. For once, he actually only hardly could be heard over the crowd's screaming about how it should be impossible and that he passed _that_ Aomine. "Seirin's back to a three point gap!" He added.

Tōō had the ball once again, immediately sending it to Aomine who was, of course, still up against Kagami. Though now… He couldn't pass through Kagami's defenses. Not the way he could before. And he realized that too.

"Seems our little Miracle reached the time limit." Shinta half joked from where he sat, though his words were entirely true. Aomine was reaching the limit of how long he could be in the Zone. Meanwhile, Kagami was not.

In frustration and to show he was not less than Kagami, Aomine spun around and faced the net, though Kagami was between them. Of course, the redhead quickly jumped up after the blue haired ace.

And when Aomine released the ball, Kagami ferociously hit it right back over his head. "I'll win no matter what!" He yelled.

"Aha… So in reality what is keeping Kagami going at this point is his teammates." Nijimura deduced from the sudden exclamation. "He would have probably lost long ago if it had just been a one-on-one."

Lucy smiled. He was so much like Natsu, it was almost scary. Of course, this guy seemed a hell of a lot smarter and wouldn't destroy a whole city on a whim, but his drive was entirely the same as the Fire Dragon Slayer she knew.

Gray was like that too, he was just not as obvious about it. And Erza was too. Everyone of Fairy Tail were. Some were just more obvious about it than others.

And both Kagami and Natsu were very obvious. It was funny.

Nevertheless, Kagami had landed on his feet right next to where Aomine had landed on his butt, a look of genuine and pure surprise in his expression.

Further ahead on the court, Hyuuga caught the ball and nimbly delivered it to the hoop, scoring another two points to their team. It was only a one point gap now. And there were only 30 second left of the match, which the commentator was currently announcing as well.

Though, although it all seemed in Seirin's favor, suddenly Aomine rose slowly, his eyes still glowing blue. The Zone was still running through his system.

Hyuuga realized the same thing as the all was picked up by their opponents. "ONE MORE!" He yelled to his team. "We'll stop them no matter what!" He continued.

Not surprisingly, Imayoshi, seeing Seirin's strong defense, passed the ball to his ace. Kagami was quickly there, pressuring Aomine into an angle, which would make it impossible for him to score. Almost.

Without even a flicker of doubt, Aomine leaned back, now actually behind the entire basket and backboard, almost over the boundary, and with one of his formless shots, he threw the ball far up into the air in an almost vertical line.

Like with a tipoff, when the ball reached its peak, right above the backboard, it continued to fall down and straight through the net, not even hitting the hoop.

Lucy's eyes widened. "How can he…" She had seen a lot of supposedly crazy shots from her own world, but this… _This_ way surpassed anything she had ever seen. How could it be possible to land a goal from here?

"WOW! He made it! Tōō's finishing move!" The commentator yelled. "This three point difference is too tough!"

It would be tough, there were only 16 seconds left, less even, and they had to at least score two goals to win. It would be very tough, but if anyone could do it, Lucy knew it had to be Seirin.

In a desperate attempt to score three points, Hyuuga ran forward and jumped up, but Sakurai was there immediately. Kagami called for the ball and the captain quickly passed it to him. However when Kagami jumped up, Aomine followed, and he quickly realized there was no way he'd get the ball in against the other ace.

"Thank the lord for increased field of vision." Shinta murmured sarcastically as Kagami passed the ball to Teppei, who was basically right underneath him. Wakamatsu was already prepared to jump at the slightest motion of Teppei. And when the Seirin center finally feinted, Wakamatsu fell for it easily. Waiting for Wakamatsu to reach the peak of his jump, which didn't take long, Teppei also jumped up and just barely reached above the other center's arms, to throw the ball in.

Circling a pair of times, the ball landed in the goal. However, that was not all Teppei had planned for that goal and his feint. The judge suddenly blew into his whistle loudly. "Pushing by black no. 6! Basket counts. One throw!" He announced.

While Tōō looked absolutely shocked and panicked, Seirin were smiling and high-fiving Teppei. If they scored they would tie with Tōō. But then there were only five seconds left…

"They only have one option here. Going overtime would be suicidal for them, they're exhausted and Tōō is overall much stronger. They have to miss and get the rebound to have a chance at winning." Shinta commented. "A rebound battle, eh?"

Everyone took their positions, with Kagami, Hyuuga, Wakamatsu and the other tall guy from Tōō under the basket. It all seemed to move in slow-motion as Teppei slowly jumped up and released the ball from his hands, shooting the ball towards the net.

Time sped right back to normal as the ball hit the hoop and bounced off it. Faster as Kagami caught the ball with a jump so much higher than the others and with his long reach.

In a flash of speed, Aomine was there, hitting the ball right out of Kagami's hands and down the court. Instantly, Imayoshi sped after it, having the whole court to himself to could land the ball in the other end.

If it hadn't been for Kuroko suddenly appearing, that is. "The only way for him to could have made it there faster than Imayoshi would be for him to have believed in Aomine more than Kagami." Shinta stated, as Nijimura shook his head.

"That's not it." Lucy said, watching the little guy make one of his ridiculous passes down through the court to Kagami. "He believed in the both of them." She corrected him. "Though there is only one who he believes would win."

"KAGAMI-KUN!" Kuroko yelled, perfectly timed with Lucy's sentence. It had been confirmed both Aomine and Kagami could catch his fierce pass, therefore both of them jumped after the ball, However Kagami was the one to catch it. And with that, he slammed it right through the hoop, right above Aomine.

The buzzer sounded at the very same moment Seirin's score went from 99 to 101, giving them a victory of 101 to 100. "Time's up!" The commentator yelled as Seirin hollered in victory down on the court, hugging, high-fiving and smiling so much they would have cramps the following day.

Though Lucy smiled and was beyond ecstatic with Seirin's win, her eyes drifted to Aomine. This was a whole new experience to him. He had never, not once, ever felt loss.

"Line up!" The judge called, and line up, the two teams did. Though not before Kuroko was about to faint in exhaustion. Luckily Kagami caught him before he fell. Aomine approached and talked to the two, and though she couldn't hear or read what they were saying to each other, she could see whatever Kagami said cheered the other ace up, if only just a little. And to top it off, Kuroko asked for one of the fist bumps the two had always shared when they were younger.

With the lineup done and the audience at the ready to leave their seats, Lucy quickly got up, hoping to make it before she hit the crowd. She turned to her two companions. "It's been very nice being with the two of you, and thank you very much for your help!" She quickly thanked them, with a little bow of her head.

"Ah, it's nothing. Hope we can watch a match with you some other time, Lucy." Shinta said, then winked at her. "Hopefully without the hangover then." He said teasingly.

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, I'll try." She promised him.

"See you around, Lucy." Nijimura said, giving her a nod, knowing that she was probably running to could find somewhere to could go home again.

She smiled. "Yeah. If you'll have me excused, I'll go now." She said, giving the two a wave and receiving one in return, before she ran off towards the teams' changing rooms.

Of course, it took a while to get there, because she had no sense of how this building worked at all, so by the time she reached where she knew they'd be, they were already in the baths. So, she decided to wait for them outside, since she would probably know when they were done from there, and didn't want to seem like she was stalking them.

But standing right behind the glass-doors, she saw Aomine and Momoi on the other side. He was hugging the poor girl so tightly her feet almost left the ground. What she noticed though, was that he seemed to be hiding his face from the pinkette's view.

Looking closer, she found he was actually crying silently, and that Momoi was hugging him back with a calm expression on her face.

Lucy smiled gently at the exchange. Though they were few and certainly weren't public, these were the times where those two's history as childhood friends truly showed. That hug, though it would look like the opposite to many, it was clear to the blonde it was entirely platonic and Aomine simply needed the comfort of the pinkette's presence.

"Hmm~ What is it I spy with my little eye?" She heard someone say behind her. "A stalker?" Imayoshi asked jokingly, having appeared by the door, not letting the defeat make any change in his smiling expression.

The blonde shook her head, turning away from the door and the two on the other side. "No, I was just wondering how Dai- Aomine was doing, but I see Sat-chan's got it all under control." She reassured him, though he raised an eyebrow at the quick correction she made of herself.

Wakamatsu also appeared behind the door. "I really don't get why you're still hanging around that douchebag, Lucy." He said, hesitating a little before saying her name. He had probably forgotten it.

Lucy smiled, the corner of her lip tugging upwards. "Ah, he will always be annoying, but just wait and see how this defeat will change him." She said vaguely, making Wakamatsu entirely confused and Imayoshi intrigued. She began moving forward, finding there was not much reason to stay there anymore and feeling the still gentle tug of Earthland. She gently placed her hand on Wakamatsu's arm, looking both of them in the eye. "I'm sorry for your loss." She said, to which she received a nod from the captain in thanks. She released Wakamatsu and began moving down the hall. As she reached the corner, she looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and would you say hi to them from me?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Wakamatsu agreed, though reluctantly. He really didn't like Aomine, huh?

She laughed. "Thank you." She said and turned the corner. She didn't get very far down the hall, though she sped up a lot after the corner, before darkness took her.

 **I. Swear. To. God. This chapter is so long. These** _ **matches**_ **are soooooooo long!  
Worst part is, it's really not much of the match I actually need, it's more of the character developing moments in them. But I just find it hard to cut them any shorter. If you have any ideas, please, tell me  
Though, if some are wondering about the missing dialogue during the match in this, remember it's from Lucy's point of view more or less. Not entirely omniscient. And all that. This chapter would be even longer if I had to add all of that too.. Oh god. **

**During the proofing of this chapter, I found that I lied to you. Sort of. The next few matches of the Winter Cup will not be Fukuda Sogo vs Kaijo, it's way ahead, in the finals. Fixed that real quick. Sorry about the confusion!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it either way! And thank you very much for reading, favoriting, following and of course, reviewing! Keep it up, everyone!**

 **~Line464d**


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 **Heeere we goo~!  
Also, I'm switching things up a bit, I'll explain further at the bottom~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the man formerly known as 'Slowpoke' and the other one formerly known as 'Abra' have yet to hand their stories over to me. They haven't realized what a great opportunity that would be. For me. **

**Earth~**

Lucy's eyes suddenly fluttered open from where she was lying. Taking a moment to fully wake up, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. Not so surprisingly, she was at the Winter Cup building, right outside of it. What was surprising though, was that there was not a single person in sight, who she knew.

Usually, as she had experiences these past few days, at least one person she knew was nearby. But not this time, for some reason.

 _Princess._ She heard Loke's voice echo in her mind.

Her eyes widened in surprise, still facing the sky, dotted only by a few clouds. "Loke? Is that you?" She asked out loud, though she had no doubt it was him.

 _Yeah. There's something we need to talk about._ He said in a very serious tone, which was so unlike him.

Lucy sat up properly on the bench she had been lying on, nodding despite knowing he couldn't see it anyway. "Yeah, of course." She replied, this time in her mind, as to not attract the many weird looks she was getting.

 _It's about what happened a few days ago._ He told her vaguely. _Back during the first day of the Winter Cup._ He elaborated.

A few days had come and passed since that one 'fateful' day. The first few rounds had passed without much trouble. Everyone had made it through. Except Tōō , of course, for obvious reasons. Seirin had stumbled a bit, but made it in the end.

Not counting Akashi, she hadn't had any trouble conversing with everyone, who had been _there_ , or their teams for that matter. Ever since, she hadn't really had the chance to talk with the redhead a lot. It wasn't like she couldn't have, but she hadn't run away from him either. Simply because she hadn't had the chance.

She really had to talk to him soon… This couldn't continue…

Either way, Loke completely disregarded the mental thought-stream she had - not that he knew she had it - and continued. _I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Did you mean what you said back then?_ He asked her.

She actually wasn't quite sure what he was speaking of at all, seeing as the situation she remembered the clearest was fluttering about in her head at the mere mention of that day.

Feeling her hesitation to answer and figuring it was because she was confused, he spelled it out for her. _Do you truly believe you are weak, Lucy?_ He asked, everything around her silencing completely, so she could only hear his words. He didn't even use her nickname.

She sighed exasperatedly. This was really not something she wanted to talk about. Especially not now, where someone she knew could and probably would find her at any moment.

 _Can't we talk about this later, Loke?_ She groaned in her mind, practically begging him, really.

Likewise, the Lion Spirit also sighed. _No, we have to talk about this._ He firmly told her. _Besides, it's either here or with Natsu eavesdropping on us._ He reasoned with her, knowing she'd absolutely hate that. Natsu was so over geared sometimes, and with this, it would spell hell for the blonde.

She sighed deeply. _Fine._ She replied, defeated. However before she got the chance to actually tell him anything, someone slid in on the seat next to her, on the wide bench, closer than they had to be.

Well, actually she didn't really notice the other person's presence until an arm had found its way around her shoulders. Though, when she did notice, she also almost jumped a meter into the air, squeaking in surprise.

Her sudden companion chuckled at her reaction. "Two years and this is as easy as it's always been." The person said, the voice generally unfamiliar, but with a tingle of familiarity to it. It sent a shiver down her spine.

The blonde looked at the surprise intruder, trying to recognize him in any way. His hair was a dark, dark gray, basically black, pulled back in cornrow braids, reaching down to tickle the base of his neck. His ears were decorated by a pair of gray steel piercings on each and his eyes were dark and with an amused but almost evil glint in them. His features were strong and from what he was wearing and how he looked, it was clear he was one of the - many - basketball players around here. She couldn't see the name of the school on his shirt, it seemed to be on the back.

She couldn't recognize this person at all.

She frowned a little, confused. "Sorry, do I know you?" She curiously asked him. He sure acted as if he knew her. She was hyper-aware of the arm around her shoulders.

Unexpectedly, the guy just began smirking, as if her not recognizing him was nothing but entertaining to him. "You don't recognize me?" He said with mock disappointment. Then the cocky smirk sneaked its way to his face again. "Well, better remind you then." He said, his voice making her blood run cold.

When she felt the guy lean in closer, she scooted over to the other end of the bench quickly, away from him. This only made him smirk further, probably finding the situation funny. And in retaliation of her moving, he moved right with her, cornering her on the bench, between the armrest and the back of it.

She frowned at the guy who continued to invade her personal space, wondering what exactly it was he wanted with her. "Who are you?" She asked him, keeping at least a little distance between the two of them, with a hand on his shoulder. What was he hoping to achieve with this?

Completely skipping over her question, he grinned a bit wider. "Unlike back then, the age difference won't have aaaanything to say~" He said, drawing out the 'a' as he leaned in further, though found that her hold on his shoulder was tougher than it looked.

Lucy finally realized who this man was, and while her eyes widened in surprise, the very same surprise slackened her hold on him. "Haizaki…" She muttered, hearing Loke growl at the mention of the guy. That one really wasn't the Lion Spirit's favorite. And as if it mattered anything, he continued to growl like an angry dog at Haizaki, though he could not hear it at all.

Haizaki's eyes lit up. "You got me." He said in an uncomfortably low and husky tone. Having noticed the slackening of her grip, he took advantage of her momentary weakness, approaching her further. With nothing there to stop him any longer, he buried his nose in the crook of her neck. "You always were a challenge…" He trailed off as he began tracing disgustingly warm and wet kisses on her skin.

Now being in an awkward position, as opposed to before, she couldn't muster the same strength to push him back. All she could do was lean away from him, but even that was limited, with him having trapped her where he had. "Haizaki, please.. Stop." She said.

Though he heard her first two words, the last one was drowned by the sound of yelling. "HAIZAKI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" One the two only could define as a male voice yelled, before the guy was yanked off Lucy, much to her relief, as she also sunk a little in her seat, releasing the tension she'd had.

 _I_ told _you to watch out for them now, Lucy!_ Loke snarled in her mind angrily. He wasn't so much angry with her as he was worried she still didn't quite think they could do something like that. Hopefully, this would change that.

Haizaki simply chuckled at his capturer. "Oh, don't give me that." He said, eyeing the blonde girl again, amused. "She liked it." He said, smirking widely at the look she returned him with. She felt nothing but disgust at what had just happened.

She glanced up at her savior of the day, seeing a blonde mane, similar in color to her own, and caramel eyes glaring coldly at Haizaki. "I don't care how you want to think of yourself as high and mighty, just leave Lucchi out of it." He coldly stated, much different from the Kise she knew. Keeping the eye-contact, the blonde guy moved a little closer to Haizaki menacingly. "If I ever find you doing this again, I will make sure you regret it." He promised the other guy.

Haizaki wasn't fazed by it at all though, he didn't blink or even flinch the slightest at the animosity Kise sent towards him, he only licked his thumb while grinning, finding the situation entertaining. "Wanna take this somewhere else, Ryota?" He suggested, standing up, nose to nose with the blonde guy.

Kise narrowed his eyes at the guy. "We're taking it to the court." He told him sternly. 'The court and nowhere else' was what he was warning the other guy.

The black haired guy shrugged at the Miracle. "How boring." He said and began walking off, towards the Winter Cup building. He stopped up again, and looked at Kise with a gleeful look over his shoulder. "Especially 'cause you got no chance against me, and you know it." He finished off, before casually strolling off.

Meanwhile, Kise's team had caught up with their blonde teammate and Moriyama gently placed a hand on her shoulder, shocking her out of the conversation she'd been watching so intently, while Hayakawa yelled intelligibly after Haizaki. "Are you all right, Lucy?" He asked her, having, though from a distance, seen that guy force himself on her.

In a split second, she collected her composure, smiled and nodded at the Kaijo player. "Yeah, I'm fine." She reassured him, though she was still beyond shocked at what had just happened. Earlier, Haizaki had also been quite… Well, pushy, but not quite as much as he was just now… She hadn't thought he'd bring it this far.

Kise looked at his fellow blonde, brows furrowed in concern, but also confusion. "Why did you just let him do that?" He asked her almost accusingly, though confusion was what dominated his expression.

Lucy tilted her head a little as Moriyama quickly came to her defense. "What are you talking about, Kise? She couldn't have done anything in that situation!" He argued against his teammate.

Said teammate looked at the tall ladies' man. "Don't underestimate her, she's stronger than she looks." He said, turning to Lucy again, giving her a questioningly raised brow.

She sighed and nodded. "He took me by surprise and-"

"And she just can't hit someone she cares about." She was cut off, by someone who was most definitely not from Kaijo. "Isn't that about right, Heartfilia?" Aomine asked, approaching with his hands buried in his pockets, a bored look on his face as Momoi skipped right past him.

"Yeah… Something like that." She just barely got to agree, before she was attacked by Momoi, who had no qualms jumping over the back of the bench and landing on top of her.

The pinkette, completely forgetting their spectators and how this must be looking to them, she strangled the blonde in a tight hug. "Oh! That must have been so awful!" She squealed in worry for her blonde friend.

Instantly, Aomine hauled the pinkette off the blonde, seeing the looks her strutting ass was getting. "You just never learn, do you?" He asked, annoyed he had to do this every time.

"Aominecchi, Momocchi, what are you doing here?" Kise asked them curiously.

Momoi was the one to answer. "Well, we saw Haizaki sitting on the bench next to Lu-chan and knew what would happen. So we came!" She explained, before breathing out deeply. "I'm glad you made it in time, though." She said. Kise just nodded silently in response.

"That guy, Haizaki, he was from Fukuda Sogo, our next opponent." Kasamatsu commented, looking off towards the building, which he'd disappeared into. He turned his gaze to the two Miracles and the two girls. "You know him?" He said, mostly directed at Kise, his teammate.

Momoi nodded. "Yeah, he went to Teiko and played on the 1st string with us." She explained.

Aomine, keeping his hand in his pockets, looked up from Momoi and at the captain of Kaijo. "Around the second year, he was kicked off the team in favor of blondie over there." He told him, jabbing his thumb towards Kise.

The blonde guy sent a light glare in the blue haired guy's direction, before agreeing with his words. "He used to be on the one of the starting members too." He added.

Momoi looked down at her hands, as if ashamed of what happened. "He was very skilled, but…" She trailed off.

Lucy had a feeling of where the pinkette was going with that. "He was too violent, both off court and on it, wasn't he?" She asked with a sigh. "And he never showed up to practice if he could get around it.." She added.

Aomine nodded. "Exactly. Whereas Ryota showed up to training every time and kept getting better at the same rate as the rest of us. It was an easy choice." He concluded.

"I see…" Kasamatsu muttered, taking in everything he had just been told. "So if you know about him, Kise, you should brief us all on how to counter him." He said.

"Herr [yeah]! We'[rr] win thi[s]!" Hayakawa exclaimed, pumping his fist down as Kasamatsu gestured for his team to follow him.

"Be careful, Ryo-kun." The blonde girl ordered Kaijo's ace. "And kick Haizaki's ass for me." She added, furrowing her brows in irritation as the previous event once again bloomed in her mind.

Aomine eyed Lucy for a moment, then turned his dark, blue eyes to the blonde guy. "What she said. Don't underestimate him though." He added.

The pinkette pouted a little. "Yeah… Especially since you never won against him…" She said in a low mutter, only barely enough for Kise to actually catch.

He just smiled and laughed though. "Don't worry guys, I'll take care of him. I promise!" He promised them, waved and hurried off after his team, as Kasamatsu yelled for him.

"Well, we should probably go in and get some of the good seats before they're all taken." Momoi said, jumping up from the bench energetically, smiling at the blonde. "You're coming too, right Lu-chan?" She offered the blonde.

She simply just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice." She agreed, getting up from her seat as well, though it wasn't as bouncy as it had been with Momoi.

So with that, the three made their way inside the building, walking in silence before Aomine decided to break it. "Are you really all right, Heartfilia?" He asked her in a low voice, as if it was embarrassing for him to even ask a question such as that.

Lucy smiled a little, looking up at him, though he wasn't even looking at her in the slightest. "Yeah, a bit surprised is all." She reassured him. She should have really not have just dismissed Loke's, Kise's and Momoi's words when they all mentioned she should be wary of Haizaki. Though Loke's were more based on all of them. Damn overprotective Lion.

He nodded, accepting her answer even if he wasn't sure he entirely believed it. "I'm sure others have told you already, and that you know by now, but watch out for that guy. He never means good business." He said, still not looking at her at all.

"I know, I'll do my best." She reassured him. And next time, she'd know what to expect and have her guard up.

With that, the three found some seats which were just short of perfect, sitting at the front row where there was most leg-space and right next to the stairs, giving them a relatively easy escape at the end of the match. And, unlike with the Seirin versus Tōō match, this time it seemed they'd actually be able to hear some of the conversation going on between the players.

It didn't take long before the two teams were out on the court, warming up for the match, which was about to begin. Though it seemed Haizaki wasn't there in the beginning. He came right about when they were done with warming up. The blonde girl sighed internally. How typical of him, he wasn't taking this seriously at all. He had no doubt that he would win this whatsoever.

"All right! Are you ready?" The Kaijo coach, Takeuchi asked the players, aiming to fire them up, obviously, as they left to do the line-ups. "All that's left is to win! Go get 'em!" He called to the white and blue clad team, who entered the court, having a very determined aura about them.

Meanwhile, the other end of the court was suspiciously quiet as they also entered, clad in their red jerseys. Their atmosphere was silent but so, so heavy. It was strange.

The speakers whined for a moment, blasting _everyone's_ eardrums, before they finally, after way too long, settled down again. "The 3rd match of the Winter Cup quarter finals: Kaijo High School vs Fukuda Sogo Academy will commence now." They announced.

"Lineup!" One of the judges yelled. "Let's have a good match!" He said ceremoniously. And with that, the match had officially begun.

Everyone took their spots, though not without a comment from Haizaki. "So.. At least don't pull my leg, you dumbasses." He said, directed at his teammates.

Lucy could do nothing but gape, especially as the person who seemed to be the captain just closed his eyes for a moment, then opening them again with a defeated look. Just what kind of team was this? Was it a team at all?

"TIP OFF!" The godforsaken commentator yelled as the judge threw the ball up in the air and the two tallest members of each team jumped after it. Luckily, it was Kaijo's center, who caught the ball, sending it right into his captain's waiting hands. "It starts with Kaijo's ball!" The commentator added, as if everyone didn't already know that.

If she had a choice to could mute one person, a single person, she was in no doubt who she would mute. On the spot.

Kasamatsu looked to Kise, to see he was strongly defended by Haizaki and that it therefore would be absolutely idiotic to pass the ball to him as it was right now.

Instead, he crouched down low and did a series of quick dribbles before driving past his defender. However instead of continuing to the goal, he sent the ball to Moriyama. "Nice pass!" The tall, narrow-eyed guy said, before he made one of his ridiculous unorthodox shots. It really was a wonder how he could actually land a hit with that, that he'd even have control of the ball with a throw like that.

"Here it is!" The commentator screeched into his poor, poor mic. "Kaijo started off with a sudden 3-pointer!"

Lucy barely heard any of his last words as she saw the dark look on Haizaki's face as he followed Moriyama with his eyes.

The ball was soon set into motion again, much faster than initially expected. "Fukuda's counter attack!" The commentator named it. "They're fast too!" He commented.

A bald guy on Fukuda Sogo's team received the ball and made a scoop shot, a shot with one hand, right over Hayakawa, who, of course, got pissed.

"As expected Fukuda returned it!" He yelled.

"Seems like it's finally Ryota's turn." Aomine commented as he leaned back in his seat, watching as Kise now held the ball and using his momentum, jumped right up quicker than Haizaki had expected it and completely copied the bald guy's shot, sending the ball of with one hand.

"SCOOP SHOT!" The commentator screeched into his mic.

Meanwhile Momoi pumped a fist into the air. "Whoooo! Way to go Ki-chan!" She cheered for the blonde guy, though her yell was basically drowned in the roar of the crowd and commentator.

"Wow, for real?!" One guest behind them exclaimed. "Right after he just saw the move… It's really amazing!" He said. Sounded like he had never actually seen Kise in action, because this was only the brunt of what he could do with his copying ability.

As Kise landed on the ground again, he sent a glare Haizaki's way. "Be more serious." He told the basically black haired guy. "Or was all that talk for nothing?" He taunted the other guy.

Haizaki smiled darkly and said something she couldn't hear from where she was sitting. Only the last part was she able to catch. "'Cause your style and mine are so annoyingly similar." He darkly replied. From that, Lucy concluded he'd probably said something along the lines of 'I really can't stand you' before and that he now would go and copy Moriyama's unorthodox shot.

And right as she was, when Haizaki got the ball down in the attack, he held it in both of his hands, jumped up and fired the ball off unorthodoxly.

The commentator went wild though. "That's… MORIYAMA'S UNORTHODOX SHOT?!" He asked, almost freaking out, you could literally hear how the chair he'd been sitting in scraped and fell again the floor at the sheer speed he got up from it. "It went in!" He yelled a moment later, when the goal was scored.

"Don't worry about it!" Kasamatsu quickly called to his team. "We'll take it back!" Unfortunately, when they reached the other end of the court and the ball was passed to Moriyama, as he attempted his signature shot, it was off rhythm.

"Ah~ no, no." Haizaki almost sang in glee. "That's no longer yours, buddy." He told Moriyama, who was just shell-shocked at what had happened, though Kise had hopefully told them that that was how Haizaki's power worked. That he stole the moves, rather than copying them, in a very literal sense of the word.

And like that… Gradually throughout the match, Kaijo's trademark moves were stolen from them and the basic movements were simply not enough at this level. This difference in amount of moves to be done, in the firepower alone, made the gap between the two teams continually grow throughout the first three quarters.

"The 3rd quarter is now over." The speakers announced as the crowd went into muttering to each other.

"Well…" Aomine trailed off, keeping a calm gaze at the match underneath him. "Shit." He simply said.

Momoi nodded. "This is going to be really tough for Ki-chan to catch up to…" She agreed, looking softly down at where Kise was kneeling on the ground in front of Haizaki, like he had in the matches they'd once played against each other.

The point difference was 'only' at 12 points… It could have been much, much more if Haizaki had really taken it seriously. So far, he had only played around with Kise, but made sure to show who was the top dog.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the guy. "That bastard." In the duration of this match, she had truly come to understand why Momoi and Kise both had tried to prevent her from seeing Haizaki, which she hadn't either. And she was glad she hadn't.

"You sure talk big with that sort of skill." Haizaki patronized Kise, who was staring at the floor, seemingly at the verge of surrendering to defeat. "You're so bad that it isn't even worth trying." Which was the scary part.

Haizaki wasn't even trying. Yet, he was beating Kise so thoroughly, and his team as well. What kind of monster would he be if he actually tried? Went for the win?

Not much time passed, with the teams taking a momentary break between the quarters, until the match started again. "The 4th quarter is starting." The speakers stoically announced.

Kaijo started with the ball and as they ran down the court, Kasamatsu passed the ball to Kise, who was facing off against Haizaki again. In a desperate attempt to just do _something_ , the blonde first began driving to the right of his opponent, but then rolled around him to the left at a high speed, before jumping up to finish it with a dunk.

"That's supposed to be the move Kagami used against him when they played their first match against each other at the beginning of the years, during a practice match." Momoi explained, perfectly timed with Lucy's confusion at where the blonde had gotten that move from.

Aomine grunted. "It lacks his usual sharpness, it won't land." He said, crossing his arms. "It's also idiotic of him to use it now, when he's already used it in the 2nd quarter." He added, to which the blonde could only agree as Haizaki effortlessly jumped up and pushed the ball out of Kise's hands, stating the very same thing.

"I'll show you an example of the move you just used." He promised Kise. And when the roles were reversed, Haizaki did just that, without a hitch.

"Damn it, this really isn't looking good." Lucy stated the obvious. Today she had just found that unless Haizaki changed, she really wanted nothing to do with that guy.

"Mhm… Although Ryota's career is still short, he's been collecting skills left and right just by looking at them once. His stock should be of a fair size by now." Aomine said, keeping his eyes on the two teams. "But there shouldn't be that many among those that can work on Haizaki and on top of that, that bastard steals it as soon as he has used it once." He said, probably mostly to himself. "He has been carefully picking his limited options and has finally started to hit the bottom." He said.

"And you deduced all this just from the fact that he used the same move twice?" Lucy asked, a little incredulously.

He looked at her with an amused and half-proud look in his eyes and shrugged. "I've known the idiot for a pair of years now, I know a thing or two about him." He reminded her. When he once again returned his eyes to Kise, that look in his eyes dropped. "But that's not the main problem here…" He trailed off, his voice dropping in volume with every word.

"Are you thinking of your match back then?" Momoi asked almost timidly, her voice light, but deep with worry.

Aomine nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty beaten up after that match, and there's no way Ryota wasn't too." He said and frowned. "And that idiot's probably just been working hard instead of letting his body heal completely." He said as Haizaki dunked the ball in over Kise, adding to the dramatic feeling of the mood between the three.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. Was Kise really not taking care of himself properly? She knew she could be a bit of a mother-hen with these guys, but she'd definitely make sure he'd take better care of himself, whether he win or lose this match.

"Two consecutive dunks!" The commentator screeched, pushing her violently out of her thoughts. "That's guy's incredible! He's totally dominating Kise!" He told everyone, though that had been quite obvious these past three quarters. Increasingly so, actually. "Doesn't that mean he's on par or above the Generation of Miracles?!" He screamed as if he'd really made a great discovery.

Meanwhile, Haizaki found it was about time to also mentally break Kise, now he was at it. "Oh, that's right. Even back then you were on the ground like that too. Right, Ryota?" He asked menacingly. "That's right, that's right. Didn't I also take your woman? What a pitiful sight, really." He smirked wider. "Well~ I just threw her away right after doing her." He turned around and looked at Kise with an expression that told her had just gotten the best idea in the world. "This time, maybe I should go for your precious 'sister', eh? I never quite finished earlier." He said and broke right into a maniacal laugh.

"Fucking animal." Aomine growled as he leaned a little further forward in his seat, as if ready to pounce should Haizaki even dare hint one more time at getting close to the three of them.

While the judge called out for Haizaki to stop his little rant, Momoi took a hold of Lucy's hand in both of her own, squeezing it tightly, offering her comfort. "Don't worry, Lucy-chan, we'll make sure he stays away from you." She promised her friend.

"Oh, don't worry Sat-chan." The blonde said and it was only now the pinkette turned to look at her friend, only to see a fierce, demonic, black aura around her friend, completely coating her in shadow, including her hair, which acted like Medusa's, except a pair of glowing eyes and a big, white Cheshire grin. The people around the formerly blonde girl also leaned away in fear, one even ran. "I can't ever forgive someone like him…!" She snarled, cracking her neck dangerously, her glare directed only at Haizaki, who also visibly shivered at it.

Though before any more could come of it, a distinct voice yelled his encouragement across the room. "KISE-KUN! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" Kuroko yelled from somewhere no one could find, due to Kuroko being Kuroko.

Lucy jumped up from her seat and pointed her finger accusingly at Haizaki. "YEAH RYO-KUN! YOU BETTER FUCKING BEAT THIS ASSHOLE'S ASS!" She yelled at him, dragging the blonde's attention away from the little, blue haired guy, who hid who knows where.

Kise looked alternately at Lucy and in the direction of where she could only guess Kuroko was. "Lucchi… Kurokocchi…" With a newfound determined smile on his mouth as he rose from the ground. "Let me say a pair of things before I beat you, Haizaki. You're misunderstanding about that girl." He said, bravely meeting Haizaki's dark gaze. "She kept bugging me and forced me to go out with her, but honestly, she was pretty annoying. She only ever talked about herself, all she wanted was probably just the status saying 'I'm going out with a model'." Kise admitted.

Haizaki looked at him with a raised brow. "And?" He asked challengingly.

The blonde's smirk only widened. "And I'm not worried about my sister at all." He told him, much to the whole court and audience's surprise. "You can try, but she'll take you down every time. Don't get so cocky." He said, before the ball was delivered straight to him.

Lucy still hadn't seated herself since yelling, and would have bounced right up again when she saw what Kise was doing. "No.. It can't be…" She muttered, her eyes widening almost comically.

Slowly, the blonde ace jumped up from where he stood, on the other end of the mid-court line, and pushed the ball right out of his hands and in a basically vertical angle. In true Midorima-fashion.

Within a second, the ball slammed right through the hoop without even as much as gracing it.

"No way! I thought he couldn't copy you guys' moves!" Momoi exclaimed in surprise, looking at Aomine with a wild look.

However the ace of Tōō was just as surprised by the turn of events. "He must have overcome it just now…" He simply, sort of answered her.

While the Celestial mage's mind was spinning around in surprise, she calmed herself down enough to come to a conclusion. "But moves from you Miracles carry restrictions due to their heavy toll, even for you, the original users. 5 minutes is what Ryo-kun's got at best." She said, more to herself than anyone else.

"I don't care what the hell you do with yourself or who you go after, right now I have a much more important promise to keep!" He told his former teammate. "I'll definitely get there… So _don't get in my way_!" He stressed the last sentence, his eyes glowing with whatever he had gotten into. It was not the Zone, but the step right before it.

"Perfect Copy." That was what she would call it, it was easy on the tongue.

Once again, Kise was given the ball from his teammates and without much hesitation, he leaned backwards and to the side, firing a formless shot right underneath Haizaki's attempted block.

"Uwooooah! Kise's amazing… No! He's _too_ amazing!" The commentator yelled. "Kaijo's on a rapid comeback!"

"Don't give me this crap.." Haizaki growled before he zoomed right into motion, stealing the ball right out of his own teammate's hand and ran right for the goal, attempting another scoop shot.

"Dumbass, he lost it. What's the point of stealing from your own team?" Aomine voiced his thoughts out loud as Kise jumped up, making up for the height he lacked as he copied Murasakibara's reaction-time, intensity and last but not least, his block by hitting the ball out of his opponent's hands.

It was amazing really, this wasn't just a skill he could blindly rely on, to make it work, he changed some smaller things to make it possible. Jumping to make up for his lack of height and foreseeing what Haizaki would do, spending a little extra time to increase the shooting range, getting the same change-of-pace as Aomine by lowering the minimum speed.

But 'everyone' could make up for that, it wasn't enough to could perform the Generation of Miracles' moves, and this was where his little ability kicked in. Kise basically had a bottomless talent in basketball, especially now he found out how to do these moves.

And with another 3-pointer made by copying Midorima, Kaijo was once again the leading team in scores.

"Fuck." Aomine said, seeing the look of pure desperation in Haizaki's expression. And more specifically the smirk he sported when he once again had the ball, facing off against Kise.

In a fraction of a moment, Haizaki took advantage of the fact that Kise was hurting his leg from his match against Tōō in the Interhighs, stepping on it as he drove past the blonde, and aiming to dunk the ball.

Kise quickly got over it though. "I told you already… Don't you get in my way!" He yelled as he jumped up, once again pushing the ball out of his opponent's hands. "You're not the one who's going to win. It's me!" He yelled as he continued to speed down the court again, accepting the ball Moriyama sent his way and just barely managing to dunk it in before the buzzer sounded.

"Time's up!" The judge yelled right as Kise landed on the ground once again, leaving the score to be 75/72 in Kaijo's favor. He didn't even have time to completely get his balance back, before he was showered with hair-ruffles and high-fives from his teammates.

Momoi too jumped up and loudly voiced her happiness and congratulations, jumping around right next to Lucy hyperactively, her voice somehow overdoing all the others' in the room, drawing Kise's attention to the two ladies who were standing up, and Aomine, who was still lazing around in his chair.

The blonde girl immediately gave him a thumbs up and a wink, letting him know he passed quite perfectly. Though the moment was short, before Kise was once again attacked by his teammates, who all came rushing from the benches.

Lucy smiled. "Two down, three to go." She muttered herself softly.

Momoi turned to her, having heard what the blonde said, but not understanding in the slightest. "Huh? What was that, Lucy?" She asked the blonde.

Said blonde looked at the pinkette as the movement of a certain Fukuda Sogo player caught her attention. "Oh, it's just that I'll be getting myself some air, it's all really heavy in here." She excused herself, and ran away and up the stairs before she could get any complaints from the pinkette.

She quickly weaved her way through the halls, having gotten quite used to the over the last few days of being here. She knew exactly where that Fukuda Sogo player was headed, though he would get there first. And he was up to no good, wanting to blow off some steam probably.

She ran till she reached the door, behind which she could hear commotion that was definitely not the good kind. She burst through the doors and half expectedly saw Haizaki with a quite gorgeous blonde woman held by the throat while Himuro held Kagami back from doing anything, reminding him it'd be trouble for him if he did.

Once again, Lucy saw red. " _Haizaki!_ " She yelled in the same manner Makarov did when he wanted to have attention from everyone in the boisterous noise of the guild. Her voice commanded total attention.

"Hah?" He asked, not even acting interested. "Oh, you." He said, when he saw her, a grin forming on his mouth again. "What do you want?" He asked her.

"Let go of that woman and abandon your plans of revenge against Ryo-kun!" She ordered him, making a cutting motion with her hand through the air.

He raised a brow at her challengingly, tightening his grip around the woman's neck further, making her cough. "What're you gonna do if I say no?" He asked her.

Himuro quickly tried to step in front of Lucy. "Please, Lucy! You don't need to be a part of this!" He quickly reassured her, not wanting any harm to come to her, having also heard Haizaki's malicious words on the court.

But this time, it was Kagami to hold Himuro back. "Believe me, Tatsuya, she can handle this better than any of us can." He said, remembering the incident not long ago and seeing her expression was as, if not more intense than it was back then.

Lucy mentally thanked Kagami a billion times for not making this difficult for her, before she in a flash of movement pulled her whip out and whipped the arm which was holding the woman up and collecting it by her side again before any of them really realized what had happened.

"I told you to let go of her." She told Haizaki sternly as he released the woman in a cry of pain from her whip. Thanks to Gajeel, her little weapon had been upgraded with barbs running all along the length of the whip, though she had complete control, magically, of when she'd use them. Here, she used a few to get her point across but at the same time not hurt him drastically.

While Haizaki clutched his arm in pain, the woman fell to the floor, her feet collapsing under her at the sudden drop and the lack of oxygen in her system. Himuro quickly was at her side, pulling her away though.

The Fukuda Sogo player looked up from his arm and glared at Lucy. "You crazy bitch… How dare you?!" He said, before he charged obviously at her. She let him catch her by her throat, just as he had the woman a moment ago.

"Lucy!" Kagami yelled, but by that time, Lucy had already dealt the much bigger guy a rough punch to the stomach, punching all the air out of his lungs.

While Haizaki's lungs were still emptied from air, she leaned in a little closer. "I will not tolerate you treating girls the way you have up until now." She told him with a dangerously cold voice. "Much less than that do I that your treated my 'brother' the way you did today." She said and pushed him away from her, where he landed on the ground, getting what little air he'd collected while she spoke pushed out of him once again.

"Holy…" Himuro muttered, to which Kagami only nodded numbly. This was even more surprising than the display she showed back at that get-together. Right now, she was effortlessly beating this much bigger guy to a pulp.

Without a flicker of hesitation she stepped down with one foot on his chest, close to his face, so he could see what she was doing. She put her weight over on the foot on top of him. "If I ever see or even hear of you doing something like this again, you will wish I'd be as merciful as I am today." She told him, her demons raging around inside of her, fueling her actions. "Do you understand?" She told him, pronouncing each word clearly.

"Fucking hell if I will listen to a crazy fucking bitch like you." He said with a hoarse voice, meeting her eyes fearlessly. "You're worth nothing more than taking home and thoroughly fucki-" He was cut off when her foot made it down to his neck, putting pressure there instead.

It probably wasn't a good thing, but she was feeling an insane boost, doing this. A power and confidence boost. "Do you _understand_ , Haizaki?" She asked him again, her patience wearing thin.

"What… Ever.. Get… Off me… Bitch." He croaked under her foot and she removed it, seeing he had accepted it, though not so clearly verbally.

She looked down at him the way you would an insect. "Good." She said, stepping over him and giving him a kick to the side when he reached out after her ankle, just for good measure. He rolled over to the other side, coughing.

"Man, Heartfilia, why do you always have to take the spotlight with these kinds of things?" Aomine asked, coming forth from the shadows he'd been hiding in. He'd been coming this way, wanting to do something not quite as violent as Lucy, but something similar, but ended up seeing - once again - just how good his dubbed sister was at kicking ass.

It did surprise him that she would go so far for him and the others to beat another person up, but then again, she'd always been like that. Which was why she was dubbed their sister by Haizaki as well.

And surprisingly to all of them, Lucy did a complete one-eighty in her personality. She smiled almost cheerfully at Aomine again. "Ah, sorry Daisuki-chan~ I'll make sure to save some for you next time." She promised him.

He just shook his head at her and at the fact that Haizaki was now literally running away from the petite blonde.

Nonetheless, the blonde turned to the other three present. "I'm really sorry you had to see this… Less than charming side of me - again for you Kagami and Daisuki-chan - and I apologize for the interruption." She said and bowed to all four just slightly.

They all just looked at her, dumbfounded. All these personality-changes. Finally, the woman stepped forward and held the other blonde girl by her shoulders, looking at her with wide eyes. "You aren't seriously apologizing for that, are you?" She asked her incredulously, her throat still throbbing, the evidence of that was in her voice. "You might've just saved me and those two from some quite decisive injuries, and now you're apologizing?" She asked. "Who are you even?" She asked, releasing the girl's shoulders and transitioning over to an exaggerated shrug.

Kagami also shook his head while Aomine chuckled and Lucy just smiled. "That's Kise's 'sister', the one Haizaki threatened him with." The redhead explained.

Aomine tilted his head a little to the side. "It'd probably be more accurate to say she's the Generation of Miracles' long lost sister having returned from the dead." He corrected the redhead, throwing an arm around his blonde 'sister's shoulders.

"…What?" The woman asked confusedly, as Lucy just shrugged.

Himuro sighed. "Basically she was with all the Miracles, and Haizaki I guess, during their first year, but then disappeared." He summed up for his teacher.

The woman just remained silent, staring at the blonde girl. Lucy smiled and offered her hand for a handshake. "My name's Lucy Heartfilia, but everyone just calls me Lucy." She introduced herself.

She was taken by surprise though, as the woman with the speed of a cobra snake striking out placed a peck of a kiss on her cheek, close to her eye. "I'm Alexandra Garcia, those two's personal trainer, it's a pleasure to meet you Lucy, and it most certainly won't be the last time." She told the blonde, who was just confused with what was going on.

Though her confusion was quickly overshadowed by the feeling she had. The feeling that she would soon be going back to Earthland.

She quickly twirled out of Aomine's arm and smiled at all present. "I'm sure it won't, Alexandra. Well, see you all later!" She quickly said, before running off, into the building, aiming to find a toilet to hide in.

They all looked questioningly after her, wondering what was up with her. Kagami then turned to Aomine, who didn't seem the least bit surprised by her sudden disappearance. "What happened there?" He asked, expecting him to know.

Aomine just grinned and shrugged. "That's the usual for that girl." He stated, putting his hands in his pockets and also moving towards the inside, aiming to find Momoi, who was still waiting somewhere for him. Probably.

Before he left completely though, Kagami called out after him. "You were right, Aomine. She is the most badass woman I have ever met."

The ace of Tōō grinned right back at him. "I know, right?"

 **So, I will end it off with that this time. Hope it's satisfactory!  
And look at that! Haizaki finally got the ass-kicking he deserved!**

 **Also, the thing I shifted around was just that apparently the Seirin vs Yosen match comes first and** _ **then**_ **it's the Kaijo vs Fukuda Sogo. Not much of a change, but one nonetheless. Just wanted to point out I know and that there is actually not much reason for me to switch it around other than that it was getting a little late for Haizaki's re-introduction. That's all.**

 **As always, thanks to you who have read, favorited, followed and of course reviewed! I know I'm behind on answering on replies and pm's it's just been a busy couple of weeks for me, sorry!**

 **~Line464d**


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

 **Ah, yes, I forgot to mention last chapter…. WE REACHED THE 400** **TH** **REVIEW! The honors go to 12Rayne! Thanks for your loyal and continuous reviews! I really enjoy reading and replying to them!**

 **I apologize for any grammar error that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: … :/ Not mine. None of the two stories. **

**Earth~**

Having completed his usual morning routine, he exited his personal bathroom. Before that though, he caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror. Running his fingers through and ruffling his red locks, he found that maybe he should let the fringe grow out again. It was a little too short in comparison with the rest of his hair.

With a sigh, he closed his multicolored eyes, not wanting to look at his own reflection any longer than necessary.

Ever since the incident a few days back, his other self had been… Disturbed. Well, he had made his presence clear when _she_ returned as well, however he had remained dormant until then, only scratching at the surface a pair of times.

It did not matter though, although he had lost his rhythm with the sudden difference inside him, his opponents on the court had been no trouble. He had no doubt the other five had been feeling the distraught state he was in, but cleverly none of them had brought it up.

He would get over his momentary weakness soon enough. When his other self realized there was nothing to be done and gave up, everything would settle into place again.

With that concluded, he closed the door behind him, grabbed his phone and bag and closed the door to his room as well. Aiming for the kitchen, he went down the stairs to where he knew Iris, the maid who had been with him for as far as his memory reached, to be. In all likelihood , she had finished cooking by now.

He was in for a surprise though, as even when he stood by the door, leading to the kitchen and even though it was ajar as well, none of the usual delicious smells fanned over him. That, and there was suspiciously silent in there. The maids were usually so chatty.

With slightly furrowed brows, he pushed the door open, to see every single maid in the household all huddled together by the door on the other wall, leading to the living room. It was closed, but they stood with their ears against it, listening in on what was going on, on the other side. Whatever that was. And with tears in their eyes. Some were bawling already.

He entered the room and closed the door behind him, bringing their attention to him. "Oh! Seijuro-sama!" Iris quickly said, having just placed an empty tray on the desk and was already flailing around, moving towards her usual position in the kitchen. Though the others exchanged worried gazes, they decided to keep doing what they were doing. "I'll get to cooking your breakfast immediately!" She said with a hushed voice, though at the same time loud enough for him to hear it.

This only made him even more curious as to what exactly was going on here. "Thank you, Iris." He said, walking towards the counter she was cooking at, keeping an eye on the maids, wondering what was going on and why they were refraining from doing their duties. This would most likely require punishment. "What is it you are all doing?" He asked them all.

Once again sending nervous glances his way, they remained silent, even in the face of authority. Iris halted what she was doing, and shook her head. "Before you judge them, Seijuro-sama, you should hear that as well." She told him and gestured to the door.

A little hesitant at first, even more confused as to what was riling his maids up this much, he accepted the offer, approaching the door. The maids parted to allow him entry to the door and as he placed his ear there, to could hear what was going on, on the other side. When he heard the voices of the two people on the other side, his eyes widened.

Pulling back and almost glaring in confusion and shock at the door, he turned to the maids. "By chance, the girl out there with my father is not blonde, is she?" He asked his maids, more specifically directing the question to Iris.

Iris nodded. "Yes, she is. It is the girl you brought over once in a while when you were younger, the sweet girl, Lucy. A very kind girl, indeed. And she hasn't changed the least bit since last I saw her! It's been such a long time.." She rambled on, though keeping her voice low throughout her little rant.

Akashi looked back to the mahogany door in wonder. What was _she_ doing with his father? He put his ear to the door again, eavesdropping on their conversation like some maid. He had to know what was going on.

 **A little earlier on~**

She awoke to the feeling of a gentle hand on her shoulder, kindly rustling her into awareness. Much to her confusion, she looked right up into the face of someone she didn't recognize at first. That was until she saw the maid outfit. First she thought of her old estate, but that was impossible. Alas, it couldn't be her own. And that face, she recognized it. And that was how she pieced it all together.

A bright smile graced her features. "Iris!" She said in recognition of the person in front of her. Way back when, it had been the maid who had come in, while Akashi was sleeping after a talk they had, in his room. Ever since she'd come over to Akashi's, she'd found she and Iris really talked together well and got somewhat close ever since.

"Lucy dear! I knew it was you!" Iris replied, throwing her arms around the young girl, who responded in kind by wrapping her own arms around the quite busty and definitely strong maid. After squeezing the life out of her, the maid kept the other girl just far enough away to not be uncomfortably close. "Oh, sweetie, where have you been these two years? I've missed you so horribly!" She said, squeezing the blonde's hand affectionately.

The blonde smiled softly at the maid. "Sorry, Iris. I had a lot of things I had to take care of back home." She told the maid, who only shook her concerns off. Finally Lucy looked around, finding she was on one of the counters of the kitchen, the whole kitchen staff staring at her confusedly. She gave them a blinding smile and a wave, which she was hesitantly being returned.

"I see your strange sleeping antics haven't faded during this time." Iris commented.

Lucy nodded and scratched her head. "Yeah, well.. It's sort of hard to get rid of." She admitted. She let her hand drop to her other arm and flinched for just a moment at the light bruise which had formed there, flooding her mind with the memories of her conversation she'd had with Loke after that, on Earthland. True to his word, they had really had a talk about all of it.

 _ **Flashback~**_

 _She'd just finished the hell that was Capricorn's training schedule and she was, as of this moment, at the very limit between life and death. As she had been the past few days. All she wanted to do was to just fall over on her woolen bed and sleep for an eternity._

 _Of course, she wasn't that lucky. Loke came over, placing a hand on Capricorn's broad shoulder. "Before you kill our Princess, could I possibly borrow her for a moment?" He asked of the other Spirit, smiling as he fixed his glasses. Lucy had a feeling that she would far prefer it if she could just play dead right about now. Unfortunately, Loke knew she was alive._

 _Capricorn nodded stoically. "As you wish, Leo." He agreed, turning to Lucy, who had crashed to the ground, opting to play dead though it was in vain at this point. "Training is over for today, Lucy-sama. Be up at five tomorrow, we will get some training done before you return to your guild." He said and then immediately disappeared in a golden light, getting no reply from the blonde. Tomorrow they would be going back to the guild and then the following day they'd make it to Crocus._

 _The Lion watched his master with an amused smirk, knowing what she was trying to do. "Oh, no, it looks like my most precious Princess has passed away!" He said overdramatically. "What must I, a mere knight of the Princess, do now?" He continued. Though it began to get difficult, Lucy reigned in her giggles. "I know! I must follow her in death!" He announced, stepping up close to the blonde girl, kneeling by her side. "But first… I would have to be certain she is indeed not of this world…!" He said, a grin spreading on his cheeks as he poked her side. Her most ticklish spot._

 _Almost. With that one poke, he almost made her squirm. She really hated when he did that. She was so damn ticklish at her sides and that bastard Lion both knew it and knew to take advantage of it and tease her with it. Constantly. Especially when she was having sulky moments._

 _And now, he was using it again, poking at her sides. "Please wake up, my Princess. I cannot live without you!" He said, picking up the speed on his poking of her sides. And soon enough, his master caved in and began squirming around on the ground, giggling._

 _Not long after, her giggles became full blown cries of laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks, as she fought to get out of the way of his tortuous fingers. "Loke! Stop! I can't take it anymore! Please stop!" She cried out in anguished, hysterical laughter._

 _He relentlessly continued though, not even twitching in hesitation. "Why ever should I do that, Princess? You sound to be having so much fun!" He replied, chuckling when he truly hit the soft spot and the blonde squealed loudly._

 _Figuring he wasn't about to stop anytime soon, something else had to be done. So, pulling herself together through the torture, she sprang at her Spirit, pinning him to the ground just like Gajeel had taught her: Him on his stomach on the ground and her having a firm grip on both of his arms on his back._

 _She grinned at the surprised Lion. "Told you to stop, didn't I?" She asked him, reveling in his still surprised expression, looking up at her from the corner of his eyes._

 _Soon enough that surprise turned into a grin. "Well, I wouldn't mind staying like this a little while longer, Princess~" He said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively._

 _Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes at his implication of their current position, what with her straddling him by the hips and all. "Pervert." She said, giving him a light hit to the back of his head before getting up and off, placing herself on the ground beside him. "So…" She trailed off, knowing the happy mood was at its end._

 _Loke knew too and his grin faded a little. "So… I'm afraid there is no escape this time, Princess. Phoenix is driving Natsu into the ground still, Gray is fast asleep, Erza is preoccupied with sparring with Orion. The other two are equally busy." He reminded her. His expression dropped even further, frowning in worry at the look in her face. "Lucy, I don't want you to feel cornered here, all I want to do is try to understand what's going on in that pretty, little head of yours. I want to help you, you know?" He told her._

 _She sighed again. "I know that, Loke." She reassured him. She knew all that without him having to even tell her at all. "I know, it's just… it's just hard to explain." She said, not knowing what else to say._

 _He gently placed a hand atop hers comfortingly. "It's only as hard as you make it to be." He told her, then remained in a thoughtful silence for just a moment, before speaking up again. "I never got an answer the other day. Do you feel weak, Lucy?" He repeated the question he had asked her before._

 _The blonde looked down, not meeting the Spirit's eyes and in the most silent voice he had ever heard, replied. "… Yeah…" She muttered so softly if he hadn't been listening, he would have been confusing it for a breeze._

 _He squeezed her hand, his brows furrowing in confusion of where she got these delusions from. No, it wasn't delusions, not for her, it was most likely her conviction. He could see it in her eyes. "Can you tell me more, Lucy? Is it because of your momentarily weakened magic?" He asked her, breaking to give her a chance to answer._

 _Still not looking up, she answered. "It's… It's not just that." She admitted, her voice kept low._

 _Figuring he'd really have to fish some before getting anything out of her, he moved closer to his master. "Then what is it?" He asked her worriedly._

 _She sighed, turning the hand he was covering with his around and intertwined her fingers with his, comforted by the touch. Growing a little bit more confident with it, even. "It's always me… Always me who needs saving. On missions with Team Natsu… They always have to save me. Even though I've been training so hard." She said, closing her eyes. "I can't even fend for myself, I'm completely reliant on you guys." She muttered out in addition._

 _This almost made the Lion reel back in shock. "But, Lucy-" He was cut off before he could say any more._

" _Don't you see, Loke? I'm weak. I'm still just the high class, aristocratic damsel in distress. I can't do anything…!" She said, staring into his slightly widened, hazel eyes. "I should just go back to the estate and-" Now it was Lucy's turn to get cut off._

" _No!" He basically yelled at her, turning to face her and grabbed her arm painfully in one flowing but aggressive movement. It would probably bruise. "Don't say you should return to something as horrible as that, Lucy. I will not hear it!" He told her fiercely, reaching up to brush away one tear gently with his thumb. Realizing he'd surprised, scared her maybe even, with the outburst, he calmed down as much as the situation allowed. "Listen, Lucy. You're a Celestial mage. You're a long-distance fighter - that's why you have the fleuve de'étoiles. You're_ supposed _to stay in the back and support us, your Spirits, your_ magic, _with the power we need. It is not us who beat the opponent, because we could not do it if you didn't supply us with your magic, you are the one who beats him or her." He reminded her._

 _He knew he had explained this to her before, he thought she understood the importance she held. The importance of her giving them the magic to could defeat her enemies. The strain it took for a Celestial mage to keep a gate open, not to mention two or three._

 _He took a deep breath and moved his hands to cover both of hers, cupped together. "But not only do you do that, you fight right alongside us. Earlier with fleuves, but now also training to aid us with fist-fighting." He said, looking into her chocolate eyes. "You are strong, Lucy. Very strong. You are everything we, as Spirits, could hope and wish for. And more even then." He said, thinking back to how she had saved his life what seemed so long ago, yet at the same time such a clear memory in his mid._

 _Lucy broke eye-contact, casting her gaze to the forest-floor between them, shaking her head. "I'm not as strong as you say, Loke. You know that." She said, shaking a little with all the emotions running through her. When Loke suddenly, out of the blue, clutched her into his embrace, she more or less squealed in surprise. "Loke?" She asked, her voice a little high-pitched, wondering._

" _I really can't take hearing you say that, Lucy." He told her, squeezing her even tighter to him. "Please don't say things like that." He almost seemed to plead her._

 _Carefully, slowly she placed her hands on his back. "Loke?" She asked with a calm and soft voice, urging him to tell her what was going on._

 _He pulled a little back, but only so much so he could sit forehead-to-forehead with her, looking into her eyes. "Lucy you saved me from death, gave me hope that I could repent for what I had done. What you did was much, much more than anyone could ever ask someone to do. You stood up to the Spirit King and you have now earned his and every single Spirit in the Spirit World's trust and respect." He told her._

 _Even if she had had something to say, she couldn't. She was speechless with what he had told her just then. She had… Sort of just thought that all she had done was save his life and then that was it. Sure, she knew that Loke was really thankful for it, but… The Spirit King himself? The rest of the Spirits? It was a lot to suddenly have to take in._

" _You called out every Spirit you had; Taurus, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Cancer, Virgo, Plue, Horologium, Lyra, Crux. That's five gold keys and four silver." He pointed out._

 _She nodded slowly. "But it was only for a short moment." She reasoned._

 _The corners of the Lion's lips tugged upwards. "Look at it like the cup is halfway full instead, Lucy. You summoned eleven Spirits all at once." He reminded her. "That's an amazing feat, you know. More than amazing, it's borderline impossible." He told her. "But you did it."_

 _Lucy smiled at his words, remembering the incident and how happy she had been when she received his key. He was… Well, he was right. It was quite impressive. She had also been drained afterwards though._

" _To put things in perspective." He said, pulling a little back from the close contact they'd had. "Karen, my former owner, she could summon two gold keys in rapid succession and use them in battle and she was a fairly strong Celestial mage despite everything. She had two gold keys, after all." He told her. "Angel could summon two Spirits at once and use them in combat, gold or not, and owned three gold keys. She was a very strong Celestial mage." He said._

 _For obvious reasons, the blonde remembered Angel very clearly. And she also remembered how amazed she had been with her summoning two Spirits at once…_

" _Then there's you." He said, cutting through her thoughts like a vice. "You, Lucy, you own no less than ten out of twelve of the gold keys and five silver. As if that wasn't testify enough of your strength, you can now keep out three Spirits, no matter the key." He looked right into her eyes, determined to convince her of her strength. "Lucy you are the most powerful mage we've had in centuries. You_ are _strong." He told her almost sternly._

 _She sighed. "That may be, but… I still can't hold my own against an opponent." She reminded him._

 _One again, he placed his hand in hers, smiling. "No, you could." When she looked up to protest, he put up a single finger, silencing her again. "But because you didn't believe in yourself, you couldn't." He told her._

 _She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "Because I didn't believe in myself? Really?" She asked him incredulously._

 _He nodded, keeping the smile up. "Yeah, it's that simple. Believing in yourself makes you many times stronger, and that's especially true for Celestial mages." He told her._

" _Wow…" Lucy muttered, stunned with the new information. Even though it was something so… Well, seemingly little, yet would make as big a difference as he hinted, she wasn't sure she could do it. Not just yet._

" _Yeah, it is so simple, yet does so much." He agreed._

 _For a somewhat long moment, there was a silence between the two as they both mulled over the words the other one had spoken. Finally, Lucy decided to break the silence. "That's.. That's not all." She told him, her voice low, yet felt like it could be heard a mile away in the quiet cloud between them. When she only received a confused gaze from her Spirit, she elaborated. "There is… One more reason." She admitted._

 _Loke perked up at this, having thought they'd gotten around everything. "Yes? What is it?" He asked her, curious but worried. He hadn't thought she would have so many reasons to think she was weak, especially when she weren't. On the other hand though, he knew she was a very sharp woman, so at the same time it wasn't really surprising. ´_

 _She looked up at the Spirit again, her vision a little clouded with regret of what she was about to tell him. She didn't want to think or feel that way, but she did. "It's not only on Earthland I seem to be a weak link." She told him._

 _This only confused him. "On Earth? But wasn't that place supposed to be…" He left the sentence unfinished, but they both knew what he meant. The place where she was supposed to be the strong one._

 _She nodded. "And in fighting, I am." She confirmed, to which Loke nodded in relief. If those crows flocking around his master were Earthland-strong in fighting too, then there was no way he'd let her near them ever again. "But.." She said, drawing his attention back to her again. "In… In what really matters in that world, among them, I'm far, far behind." She said._

 _Having witnessed the latest few matches between the Miracles and other teams, the difference was more than clear. Lucy could probably just keep up with those other teams, but those six (plus Kagami), those she couldn't keep up with at all._

" _In basketball, you mean?" He asked her, trying to understand what she meant. Though he didn't see the importance of it, if that was it._

 _She nodded. "Yeah, those guys, I can't keep up with them any longer." She told him honestly. When she had played with Aomine and Kise and his team, she had found out they'd lowered the level to could play with her. When Loke just nodded slowly, probably wondering what the problem was, she smiled a little and decided to explain. "You see, they've gotten very split up these past years, and I want to bring them together again, I'm pretty sure that's the 'reason' the Spirit King sent me there." She told him._

 _The Lion's eyebrows shot into the air. "You found out what those two words mean?" He asked her, surprised. "'Akashi' and 'help', right? How does that fit with that?" He asked her curiously._

" _Well, bringing them back together is one part of it, the other I've figured out is helping Akashi with his split personality, bring him to balance of some sort." She explained._

 _He nodded again. "I see. But what does that have to do with your not being as good at basketball as they are?" He continued to ask._

" _Well…" She said. "They've… Many of them have never tried losing and… I think that's what split them apart. If they experience loss, that will bring them closer to what they were back then." She reasoned. "But I can't beat them myself, I have to rely on… Someone else. Again." She said, looking down._

 _Loke leaned back, supporting himself with his arms behind him. "Well, I see what you mean. But even if they're beat and taste defeat, it's not for certain they'll go back to being buddies, you know." He told her. When she just stared at him as if the world came crashing down, he chuckled a little at her. "What I'm trying to say is that without you, they likely still would have that rivalry between them. Well, they will no matter what, but without you I have a suspicion they might not talk with each other so easily." He told her._

 _Lucy chewed on that for a moment. "You may be right, but… Well, I think it will still be impossible without them losing too." She told him, convinced that was what had the heaviest weight in this one._

 _He shrugged, taking a deep breath at the same time. "You would know them better than I do." He conceded, seeing the stubbornness in the blonde shining through. "However, to get back on track again, not only do you have an immense magical strength and even more potential just waiting for you to tap into it, your personal strength is even greater." He told her._

 _All he got was a frown from the blonde. A confused one. "My personal strength? You've got to be kidding me. I'm nothing special." She argued. Now he was getting ridiculous._

 _With a grunt of laugh, he shook his head. "Well, while it's still inside the limits of reality, not many belong to the group you are in." He reassured her, looking up at her seriously. "You are incredibly kind, caring and empathetic towards everyone and everything. Even that Haizaki, despite what he did to you, right now you're regretting beating him up like you did, aren't you?" He asked her._

 _Her eyes widened at the sudden exposal of her feelings, which she had yet to tell anyone about. "Yeah.. Yeah I do." She confirmed. He was only a human without magic, she had probably been a little too rough with him._

" _See?" He asked, gesturing towards her. "You've already forgiven that asshole, whose ass I'm going to kick next time he comes close to you, you've forgiven Gajeel, Juvia and Jellal too. You've forgiven your dad. You forgive everyone." He told her with exaggerated arm-movements. "You are special. And the most visible place to see that, is how you treat us, your Spirits. Like friends, not the tools that many think of us as." He said. "And we're eternally grateful." He confirmed._

 _Meanwhile, she was blushing wildly at all the praise and compliments she was suddenly getting, staring straight at the ground in her flustered state. "I'm just glad I've met all of you." She answered earnestly._

 _Loke got up from where he stood and pushed his blue-tinted glasses up. "Now then, I will leave you to think about this while you go take a bath. See you tomorrow, Princess~" He said before disappearing in a shower of gold._

 _And think, she did._

 **Present~**

Though she thought so much about it all, she didn't truly reach a conclusion on anything, really. But it was also one of those processes, which took longer time getting through than just a half an hour of space to think.

"Are you all right, dear?" She heard the kind maid ask her worriedly.

Lucy smiled at her, figuring she had probably been quite quiet for a long time, just staring into space as she remembered that whole thing. "Oh, sorry, Iris. Yeah, I'm fine, just dazed for a moment there." She reassured the maid, jumping down from the desk, opting to give the maids space to do their work, as the door almost burst open the way she remembered her father doing it.

And right in stepped a middle-aged man. Handsome for his age, not extraordinarily tall, but with burning red hair, attempted at being pulled back with gel. But it seemed to have a life of its own. His eyes were dark and hard, cold almost, in contrast to his hair.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who this man was, especially not with the stature of a high class man. This was Akashi's father, Masaomi Akashi.

He immediately turned his hard gaze to all of the maids, who were huddled in the corner, having been unable to work with Lucy filling everything. He almost glared at them. "What are you all loitering around for? Get to work!" He ordered them and they all quickly shuffled to get to work.

Lucy frowned at the treatment of these maids, especially because they had had no choice, and looked at the man with a hard gaze, but a soft posture, her upbringing kicking in again. "I am sorry, Mr. Akashi. It was my fault they have not been able to get to work." She told him, redirecting his anger from the maids, who took a sharp intake of breath at her unexpected defense of them and obvious offense toward him.

And his gaze shot to her instantly, not used to that tone from _anyone_. "And who are you? I have not seen you before, you are not one of my employees." He stated, stepping forward threateningly towards her. "What are you doing in my house?" He asked her hostilely, his eyes narrowed at the blonde in front of him.

Iris quickly came to her defense, stepping in front of her. "Master! She is certainly no threat! She is a friend of Seijuro-sama's and will be accompanying him to-"

The maid was cut off as Masaomi sent a heated glare her way. "Did I ask you, Iris?" He asked her rudely, making the poor woman flinch.

Lucy gently placed her hand on the maid's shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, Iris. I can take care of myself." She assured the maid. Then she turned to the man in front of her, meeting his gaze for a short moment, before doing a little curtsy, her head bowed and ankles crossed. "Pardon my unannounced intrusion, Mr. Akashi." She said, looking up at him again, her gaze not faltering the slightest bit against his angry feeling of authority. She'd faced a dragon, torture from a crazed Dragon Slayer and her own father. This guy didn't even compare. "It is correct, I have come here to accompany your son to the tournament." She told him.

He remained silent for a moment. "That blasted game, taking up all his time." He said, seemingly mostly to himself. "What is the state of your relationship with my son, nameless woman?" He asked her, clearly annoyed.

"You can call me Lucy, sir. Lucy Heartfilia." She introduced herself quickly, bowing her head gently in greeting. "If I were to put a word to the relationship between your son and myself, I would say we are close acquaintances, sir." She replied to him.

The man sent her a levelling gaze, studying her completely. "It is clear you are of no no-name descent, Lucy." He stated. Though her choice in clothes sure didn't show that right now. "How do you know my son?" He inquired, still quite hostile.

She smiled a little. "During his first year in Teiko Middle School, we did see each other approximately every day. I as a helper during his and his team's practice, sir." She explained.

"That game, huh?" He asked, his voice dripping with toxic at the mention of it. "So can I take it you were the one to encourage him to play such a worthless sport?" He asked her, contempt in his eyes.

She took a short moment to consider. "No, I did not assist him in his decision, it was entirely his own." She reassured him. Seeing the disgust in his eyes, she dared to speak up again. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but it is my belief that your son is at the top of his school grade-wise, and he is the captain of his team, which normally is unheard of as a first year." She stated.

"As can only be expected of a son of mine." He cut in before she could ask her question.

She ignored his remark and continued. "Yet still, it does not seem like you appreciate him playing the game much. Why is this?" She asked him. Bravely, in the eyes of the maids, whose ears were solely on their conversation now.

The look the older Akashi sent her was as cold as the ones her own father had sent her so often. She'd brought up a topic he didn't like. "How does that concern you, girl?" He asked, not even using her name.

"Well, you could say there are two reasons for that." She told him, holding up a finger. "One, I do care for your son and want to make sure he is happy." She said, raising a finger. "And two, his situation is very reminiscent to my own when I was his age." She dropped her hand as a thought stroke her mind. "As a matter of fact, I do believe you should hear that story. I do think it would help you greatly to perhaps understand what is going through your son's head." She said thoughtfully.

He crossed his arms at the audacity of the young girl in front of him. "Remind me again how the stories of others could possibly hold any meaning to me." He said rudely.

She smiled at him, a little, soft smile. "Would you not listen to what I have to say before reaching conclusions?" She asked of him. His lack of reply told her he would consider it. "If you are willing to listen, should we not find a more… Private place to talk?" She suggested. Despite this, she knew the maids would do everything in their power to eavesdrop on their conversation anyway.

After a moment, he nodded and gestured for her to follow him as he exited out of the door he had entered, walking down the hall to the door of the adjoining room. He held the door for her and closed it behind her when she had entered and they both made it to the oversized dinner table.

They both got seated on each side and as he remained silent, she jumped right out into it. "As you already have deciphered, I too descend from a family among the higher classes in society." She confirmed, to which he just nodded slightly. "It was a business my father built up with my mother since their young days and soon enough they had me." She told him, remembering the story she'd heard from both her mother and father when she was younger. She far preferred her mother's version, it was much sweeter. "Back then everything was as good as it could possibly be. Idyllic, happy, perfect." She told him. She caught her gaze in having moved upwards towards the ceiling as she spoke and quickly redirected it to the man in front of her. "However then my mother fell ill." She told him.

Even this far in, she could see the man was surprised. When she'd heard Akashi tell her his story she was surprised too. Their upbringing was eerily similar.

She sent him a nod in acknowledgement and confirmation of what the man was thinking; he'd be hearing his and his family's story from another person. "Like with your son, my mother too taught me an art my father did not appreciate. More specifically, he did not appreciate it after the passing of my mother." She clarified, seeing in Akashi's father's face and eyes how he was drawing threads from one to the other. "I'm sure you can already see the similarities?" She asked, to bring him into the conversation a little more.

He nodded. "Of course. One would be a fool not to see the similarities between your story and ours. However how can I be certain you are not just citing our story?" He asked her, suspicious as men like him seemed to have to be.

She sighed, folding her hands in her lap. "Well, you cannot." She told him, her bluntness seemed to shock him for a fragment of a moment. "However even if it is not my own story, it is a prediction of what could happen to you." She told him.

He nodded, seemingly accepting that. "I see. Please, do continue." He urged her.

She nodded as well and did as she was told. "After my mother's passing, my father got engrossed in his work and the family fortune." She said. "Of course, me being his only child, I was to take over as the new CEO of his company. Therefore arts such as the ones my mother had taught me, one of the only remaining mementos I had of her, were trivial and had to be put to a stop." She met the redheaded man's eyes fiercely. "He forbade me from doing it." She said.

When she paused dramatically, he felt it was only right if he said something. "Why is it I feel a 'but' here?" He asked, wanting her to continue.

"But." She confirmed, smiling a little. "As I had no siblings and he would not speak to me, I only had our employees to talk to. Of course, they were busy, so they could not entertain me always. And I missed my mother horribly. So without his permission or knowing, I practiced those arts in secret." She told him. "Of course, he would find out and then scold me for not obeying him, but it never did stop me." She said melancholically. She tilted her head a little. "Now, this is where the story actually gets interesting for you." She told him.

"How so?" Was all she got to keep her going.

"When I reached my seventeen years, I had gotten enough of the treatment I was receiving and ran away from home." She told him and she could see the surprise clear in his face. "I ran and found a group of people who took care of me without questioning me the slightest. Here, I continued to practice the arts my mother had taught me, putting it to good use, helping others." She told him.

"These people you speak of, of what standing are they?" He asked her curiously.

She smiled fondly at the mention of her guild-mates. "Well, they would be considered street brawlers for you, I believe." She said, giggling a little at the unintentional gasp the man had released in horror. "Yes, I am aware it is quite a drastic difference, but contrary to what you are thinking they are the kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"My God…. Street brawlers?" He asked, incredulous. While he could tell by a first glance that the woman in front of him was different, strange, this would not have crossed his mind for even a moment. It was outrageous!

She smiled at him. "They are not what you believe them to be, sir." She reassured him. "I have something to prove this as well." She offered, to which she got a nod to continue. "As any good father would, mine attempted to get me back home. However he hired people who would take me home by force, physical force, and could do whatever they wished to me, as long as it did not kill me, to bring me home." She told him. "And they did. However my new family and friends among these street brawlers came to my rescue and quite literally saved me from torture." She told him, remembering the pain Gajeel had dragged her through. Now the torture was by choice. "In the end, they beat the hired people up, stopping their plan."

She took a moment to get her feelings under control again. They were whirling around inside her right now as she retold her story to the man in front of her. It was basically an emotional rollercoaster for her, it always was.

"At any rate, with the support from all of them, I went to stand up to my father, telling him I did not plan to become the next CEO of his company and instead intended to stay with the street brawlers." She told him. She laughed a little, though it was hollow. "He did not like it, of course, but knew there was nothing to be done as well. So he began sending me letters, telling me to come home, trying to convince me."

She already hated this part of the story. Not only because it was a lie, but also because this was probably the most painful part of the whole thing. But it was very, very necessary.

"Of course, I stopped reading the letters quite quickly and just stored them without reading. Even as I came here to Japan, he found my address." She said with a sigh. "Time passed as I ignored all the letters, but right around two years ago, the end of Akashi's first year in Teiko Middle School, I opened one of the most recent letters. I do not know what compelled me to do it, however I read it." She said.

Looking down she saw her hands were clenched and trembling slightly with the many and strong emotions running through her.

She didn't raise her gaze as she continued. "The company had gone bankrupt and he had fallen ill, the stress having gotten to him." She said, her voice now also trembling with emotion. It wasn't the true story, but it hurt nonetheless. "I went there immediately, but…" She trailed off, collecting herself again. "But I was too late." She finished. "He too, had passed away and I never got to tell him anything, neither did he me other than through those letters." She said.

Silence remained between the two for a while, Lucy never looking up at him, but keeping her gaze trained on her hands in her lap. Finally, the silence was broken by the door leading to the kitchen being opened and Iris appearing with two cups on a tray. "Excuse me." She said as she placed the porcelain in front of the two, tea in Lucy's and a black coffee in Masaomi's. They both thanked her and she quickly left again.

Lucy took the teaspoon and gently stirred the tea, before bringing it to her lips. It was soft and sweet, definitely laced with honey. It was very good.

The silence was broken by Masaomi. "I am sorry for your loss, Lucy, and I now realize there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of your story." He said, his voice not quite as cold as it was before.

Her head whipped up so quickly it wouldn't be a surprise if she'd gotten whiplash. Fortunately, she didn't. "Huh?" She asked, surprised and confused with his words.

He met her wide eyes calmly with his own dark ones. "The emotions you displayed throughout the explanation, especially at the end, they are not simply something you can bring out so easily. I believe you." He told her.

She smiled softly at him, fighting her tears. "Thank you, sir." She said, honestly happy he believed her.

He shook his head. "It is me, who should thank you. Your story and your words, I will take it all into consideration and avoid things from developing like yours did, I thank you for sharing this with me, it must not have been easy." He said, almost - only almost though - sounding sympathetic.

She smiled at him. "It was not, however just the fact that you are willing to consider it makes it worth it." She earnestly said.

The man leaned back in his chair, a strange expression on his face, a mix of amusement and something else. "Someone like you…" He started out. "I would not mind if you would become more than a close acquaintance. You would fit my son very well." He said thoughtfully.

It took Lucy a moment to truly digest and understand what he had just told her, but as she did, the door Iris had entered from earlier burst open with said son standing in the opening, more or less directly glaring at his old man. "Father. You have said enough." He declared, a faint tint of color in his face. So he had been listening in with the maids, had he?

The blonde looked from father to son and back again, then smiled awkwardly at the older Akashi. "I think you might be mistaken, Mr. Akashi, the relationship between your son and I is nothing of that nature." She assured him.

He just laughed. "No, not as of yet." He said, making both young people immediately flustered. Having had his fun with the two, he got up from his seat. "At any rate." He said, looking at the blonde, who also got up in response. "I believe I will take my leave now." He said, looked to his son and to her again. "You may accompany my son to this basketball tournament if you wish."

The younger Akashi almost dropped his jaw to the floor. He had never even once heard his father mention the sport as anything other than the 'blasted sport' or 'worthless game', never once had he called it by its name. Just what had the blonde been doing to him?

Lucy smiled brightly, realizing the same thing, and curtsied again. "Thank you very much, sir!" She thanked him, quickly straightening up again.

Though little, the older Akashi returned the bright smile. Which only made his son's jaw fall down further. "Please, just call me Masaomi, Lucy." He said, not minding that the smaller duplicate of himself's brain had just been blown up. "See you around." He said friendlily and exited the room.

The blonde turned around to the other person in the room. "So, shall we go watch Murasakibara and Kuroko play?" She asked him, her smile never leaving her face.

He, however, was speechless. First surprise of the day had been that she was here, the second that she had been talking with his father, and now this? What was going on?! "What did you…?" Was all he could manage in his confused state.

She just shook her head. "It's nothing special, I just told him something he couldn't ignore." She told him, jumping out of the mannerisms she'd been controlled by before, in pure ecstasy with what she had just accomplished. She was simply thrilled, exceedingly happy. She couldn't control it. And that completely destroyed the awkward atmosphere which would have been between them if she wasn't. "Now, let's go!" She said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him after her, out the door with only mild protests from him.

 **Yup, leaving it off here. So, obviously, it's going to be Yosen vs Seirin next chapter. Aaand Lucy and Akashi will also have to figure things out between each other. Exciting, exciting~**

 **Deep conversations were had in this one though. Let's hope that this truly will change Akashi's father's perspective on things, and that Loke's words will change Lucy's as well. We'll see~**

 **Anyhow, for those of you, who have been reading Acnologia, my Childhood Friend, I'm sort of trying to draw the dragons in the story. Should I post them somewhere or would you rather keep your own image of how they look? So far, Simakan, Grandine, Sacheba and Glanasile have been made. This one's all up to you.**

 **Hope you liked it! And thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following!**

 **~Line464d**


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

 **Hey guys!** **This hasn't been proofed yet** **, since I'm a lazy bum and finish ten minutes before I upload. Don't worry, I'm punishing myself for my sins, even Virgo's ideas would pale in comparison.  
I would like to point out, that 's review-system is not functioning properly right now, so some of your reviews don't show up on the page, while they show up in my mail, and the other way around. Therefore, I can only assume that there will be some among these, that don't show up at all. So I'm sorry, if that happens to be you, and I haven't replied. Just so you won't feel forgotten!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: I don't own nothin'. Except some of this. **

**Earth~**

"What? You usually go by limo?!" Lucy asked, shocked at the long, shining black Mercedes holding in front of the entrance, idly waiting for Akashi.

He looked at her with a raised brow, looking at her obviously. "Of course I do." He said, as if that was the most normal thing in the world.

Now… Lucy, though having been here for a while, didn't know much about Earth and the norms here yet. She'd admit that. But she knew enough to know that driving around in a limo regularly wasn't normal.

Alas, she just looked at him as if he was crazy. To which he just returned her gaze calmly. "Is it that surprising to you?" He asked as the driver made his way around to hold the door open for the both of them, bowing lightly though they weren't even down the stairs yet.

Without a glance towards the driver, Akashi slid down and into the luxurious car in one flowing motion, like he'd done it his entire life. Which he probably had. With a bit of hesitation, Lucy finally followed along, thanked the driver with a smile, before she ducked down and took a seat beside the redhead.

While the driver closed the door, after a moment's break, and sat down, setting the car into motion, the blonde glanced at her companion. He was sitting nonchalantly with one leg over the other, staring straight ahead, though all he could see was the neck of his driver.

With a sigh, she felt her earlier excitement gradually drain away again, both with her companion's stoic and silent presence and with her own realization of the situation.

Ever since that one incident… She hadn't spoken to him even once. They had not even had a single exchange of glances. Nothing. Nada.

And now… She had suddenly shown up at his place, he had found her in the middle of a conversation with his father and now she'd forced him to go with her to watch Kuroko and Murasakibara's match. She had acted as if what happened never had…

And that was all well and good until she realized they had, which she did now. The tension and awkwardness was like a brick wall between them. She sat completely frozen in her car seat, drawing a complete blank with what to say to the young redhead in the situation..

Well… At the very least she could apologize. Turning in her seat slightly, she faced Akashi. He, however, didn't twitch the slightest. "Listen, Sei-kun." She said, drawing his attention. She hoped. He didn't react on it either way. "Back then… I'm sorry for what ha-" She began, but was cut off.

"I do not care for your apology, save it for someone who does." He harshly told her, not sparing her even a mere flicker of a glance.

She narrowed her eyes at his rudeness, crossing her arms. "I understand it if you don't like me very much, but you could at least let me finish what I was saying." She half scolded him, annoyed. She really disliked it when she was interrupted like that. She turned around pointedly and stared forward. "It is very rude." She added.

"There you go again with that 'big sister' act." He said, venom dripping from his voice. "It is quite honestly getting very pathetic to spectate." He shot at her.

Feeling like he might as well have jabbed a needle right into her heart, she glared at him, whipping her head around. "Huh?!" She asked him angrily, simply saying the first thing, which came to mind.

Finally, he looked at her from the corner of his eyes, his arms crossed. "Back when we were younger, that act fit nicely, however now it is simply you pathetically grasping at the past, refusing to realize that we have grown up." He told her sharply, turning his gaze forward again calmly. "It is about time you understand, that it is not possible for everything to return to what it once was." He told her.

She frowned at him and his words. "You can't just give up before you've even tried." She said, confident that it was entirely possible to bring things back to what they once were. That was why she was sent here… Right?

"Lucy, there is one thing you seem to have forgotten." He told her, comfortably leaning back in his seat. "It is not certain that we want to return to that. We do not wish to be that team again." He told her, completely silencing each and every thought running through the blonde's head. "We have grown up, matured, Lucy. Just like it would be impossible for you to be the same girl you were, when you were thirteen, so is it for us." He told her.

She looked down, listening silently to what he was telling her. Her brain had completely halted with his second sentence, stopped functioning completely. All she had been able to do was listening.

Just like he had told her, she could hear from what he told her, that he too, had matured a lot in that duration. That was the kind of thing she'd expect to hear from someone her age, not…

But Akashi, and the others, they were sixteen now… She was only two years older than them. They were basically her age, weren't they? Wasn't that what Loke had tried to tell her way back when she'd only just returned? Yes, his words had another meaning in them too, but still. It was the same for Midorima, he wanted her to realize it too.

Then why was it only just now she realized that those small boys were no longer? They'd grown up.

She sighed and looked at him, though he only stared straight ahead, as usual. "I'm sor-" Once again, she was cut off.

"We have arrived Seijuro-sama." The driver said from where he was sitting. Quickly turning off the car and jumping out of his seat, he held the door open for Akashi to exit from it. What happened to ladies first?

Without waiting or even reacting to what she had been in the midst of saying, he got out of the car. With a sigh she followed after him, knowing their conversation had ended. He quite clearly made a point of not wanting to talk about it.

Immediately as the daylight once again touched her, she got the strange feeling that she was being watched. While Akashi and the driver came to the agreement that he would call when he was to be picked up again, Lucy took a look around.

She'd been on enough missions to know to trust her instincts with this kind of thing. They barely ever failed her. That and Gajeel had drilled it into her head as well.

And like those times, this time they didn't either. It didn't take long to spot the remaining four of the starting team of Rakuzan hiding behind a building with only their heads sticking out behind it, staring right at her and Akashi.

She raised a brow at them, which made them quickly hide again, having been spotted. So Hayama had gone and put more into their relationship than what was after all and then proceeded to tell the rest of them about it. Lovely.

"I believe the matches are about to start, we should hurry." She heard Akashi tell her and turned around to see him already moving towards the building.

She quickly caught up to his brisk pace and soon enough they had seated themselves fairly well. Not close enough to could hear anything but yells from the court, but not so far that they couldn't see the faces of the people on the court.

Glancing back, she found the four Rakuzan players sitting a few rows behind them and to the right, keeping an eye on the two of them. Every single move they make would be watched by them, eh? Kind of like how she and Aomine followed Kuroko and Momoi once.

She leaned a little closer to the redhead. "Your team sure is curious about you." She told him and when he looked at her confusedly, she discreetly nodded towards his teammates.

Sending them only a quick glance, he nodded. "It would seem they are." He agreed. Quicker than she would have imagined, he had grabbed the armrests of her seat, moving to tower over her, another proof of how he wasn't thirteen any longer. "Are you suggesting we put up a show for them?" He asked her, his multicolored eyes slightly narrowed.

Right, this would be very suggestive for those four…

Before she got a chance to reply, a pair of unknown hands came into view on either side of her head, the arms resting on the backseat of her seat. "Don't tell me you so easily let him get so close, but me you beat up?" A deep voice which did nothing but send shivers down her spine asked mockingly. "You seriously need to set your priorities straight."

Akashi wasn't at all looking at the blonde and was instead staring straight up into the eyes of the other guy. "Haizaki." He simply stated, making the blonde shudder.

Haizaki's face lit up into a grin. "Missed me, bitches?" He asked them amusedly.

The redhead sighed and returned to his seat again. "Not in the slightest." He reassured the now black haired guy, whose cornrows didn't seem to have undergone the slightest change since the other day.

Since the blonde had yet to say anything and the redhead didn't seem like he was going to come to her rescue, the Fukuda Sogo player decided to continue teasing her. "You know that whip you used is damn dangerous." He told her, showing her the arm which she had hit. "This still hurts like a bitch." He said, gesturing to the arm, where a quite ugly-looking wound still remained from the day before. He apparently didn't see the need to bandage it.

She looked at the injury, then turned in her seat and looked at him. "Of course it does. You were lucky that was the only one you got." She told him, while Akashi listened to the conversation curiously, not having known they'd had a falling out the other day. He could guess why, though.

His grin turned into a smirk. "Well, I don't mind it much." He told her, letting his gaze travel slowly down to where the whip rested on her hip and continued to suggestively travel up again. "After all, it was damn sexy." He assured her with a chuckle.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, demonstratively turning around and sitting with her back to him. "Pervert." She simply retorted. He'd been getting his ass kicked and that was what he had been thinking about? Men.

"Can't deny that." He agreed. Slowly he began reaching down to her, but before she could react, his curious hand had been stopped. "What do you want, redhead?" He asked exasperatedly, having thought he'd have free passage once the guy moved away.

"Know your place, Haizaki." Was all Akashi replied, before he released the grip on the guy's hand again, knowing he would not take it further again.

Haizaki grunted and retracted his hand. "Thought you didn't care." He grumbled, annoyed with the interference.

The conversation was halted as the speakers finally announced the beginning of the match. "Ohh~! Here they are!" The commentator shrieked like a fangirl into his mic. "With only two years since its inception, the menacing new star that continues on with its victorious march!" He said, building up excitement as he went. "Seirin High School!" He yelled as said team entered the court, looking just about ready to win this match.

She hoped they were just about as ready as they looked, gathering by their end of the court to talk about the game, probably… Well… She wondered if it even mattered much now… Her plan had kind of been foiled. She had to revamp it or something..

Either way, while Seirin released a battle-cry, their opponents entered the stage. "And here they are…! They trumped through the 2nd and 3rd round with unprecedented zero point loss…!" The commentator said dramatically.

It was impressive though, and he wasn't lying, throughout the time she'd been here, watching the Winter Cup, Yosen High, Murasakibara's team, had not lost a single point to their opponents. Their defenses simply were that strong.

"Shield of Aegis! Yosen High School!" He introduced them as the white and purple team entered the court.

When the two teams lined up, it was clear to see the difference in height. Of course, that would only be natural, since Yosen had three players above two meters in height. Which was ridiculous in itself.

"Now we'll commence the 4th match of Winter Cup Quarter Finals: Seirin High School versus Yosen High School." The monotone speakers announced as the judge stepped forward to the two teams.

"Stand!" He said loudly as they all did. And yelling in unison with the others, he said: "Let's have a good match!"

With that, everyone took their positions and the two centers, Murasakibara and Teppei stood facing each other, about to do the tip off. The ball was thrown high into the air and the two jumped after the ball. However with his increased height and insane wingspan, Murasakibara was easily the one to get the ball. He continued to push it right into the hands of his teammate, the blonde, narrow eyed one, Fukui.

However, before they got any further, the judge blew in his whistle. "Jump violation! White no. 9!" He called out, bringing the court to a standstill already now.

Lucy sighed, but not entirely without a smile. "So he never got over that?" She asked Akashi mainly. Just like he had when they all were younger, he had touched the ball before it had reached the peak. Which was a fault.

"Just like your strange sleeping habits, he never quite got over that quirk." Akashi confirmed. "Though it would seem he does it more consequently since getting as tall as he is now." He added.

Haizaki looked at the redhead strangely. "You telling me that damn giant hasn't gotten used to his height yet?" He asked confusedly.

"Something like that." Was what Akashi confirmed.

Once again, the conversation was cut off as the commentator gushed about Yosen's tough defense and how he wondered Seirin would score any points through that defense. However he found himself surprised, when Seirin burst right out with quite high-speed passes. So Seirin were aiming to come through that brick wall of defense by being faster? Could be a good plan.

However, as Hyuuga got the ball and made to land a score, Murasakibara was standing in front of him. And though the glassed guy had moved far enough back to could score on a normal person, the ball was flat out blocked by Murasakibara. Which to some was a grand surprise and to others was expected.

Izuki was quick to get the ball rounded up again, though Fukui was right at his heels. Without even a flicker of hesitation, Izuki sent the ball right across the court horizontally, past all the enemy and team members, aiming for the other side.

Now, this would have been impossible had it been any other team attempting to do this, however Seirin had Kuroko and with him, that horizontal pass was made possible and the ball was sent straight into Kagami's hands.

And as Kagami jumped up in hopes of scoring in the midst of all the confusion, suddenly Murasakibara was in front of Seirin's ace, effortlessly taking his ball.

"That's insane speed for a giant…" Haizaki muttered behind her. "Wasn't he on the other end of the court just a second ago?"

Lucy nodded. "He was. But you know, Haizaki, it isn't only his arms that are long, his legs are too. He covered that distance with a single step." She told him.

"He can cover the entire area within the three-point arc without problem." He confirmed the blonde's words. That was a bit insane though… Sure, he was tall and had freakishly long arms, but to could cover that entire area… It was just a lot.

Either way, Yosen now had the ball and Fukui hurried down the court, the rest of the players following him. It was only barely Izuki made it to a defensive position, before Fukui jumped up and released the ball. Luckily he was fast enough to blow the ball off course.

Immediately both Teppei and Kagami jumped up for the rebound, however two of the tall Yosen players: Liu and Okamura, jumped up behind them and pushed the ball in anyway with their superior height. Even though it was offensive.

With a ball scored, Seirin started out with it. Immediately Kuroko went for his Ignite Pass - she'd had to ask the boy what he called all these techniques of his. And the others too. She was up to date now.

Either way, the pass shot right through half the court and landed straight into Izuki's hands. "They invaded the enemy territory in one pass! Ohh so fast!" He gushed, watching as Izuki approached the opposing goal.

However, just as it looked like Izuki would score the first goal for Seirin, suddenly Murasakibara was in front of him, towering far above the smaller guy, who had absolutely no chance of scoring a goal past him.

Now, how could Murasakibara get there so fast? Simple. He hadn't moved with the offense, he'd remained in the defense the entire way through. Turnovers wouldn't work on Yosen.

"I always knew Murasakibara tended to be lazy, but… I didn't think it'd be that much." She commented. Yes, this was not her first time seeing it, but it just still surprised her.

The other two remained silent around her and continued to watch the match - even Haizaki, who'd said he didn't care much for basketball. Obviously, that was a giant, fat lie. But he apparently thought it was cool not to.

Either way, Hyuuga had called for the ball and Izuki immediately passed it to him, knowing his captain was hoping to do a shot from outside the three-point arc. Unfortunately… Okamura, the captain of Yosen's team managed to grace the ball, enough to prevent it from landing. And the rebound was completely one sided, Murasakibara took it with ease.

Well, this was a critical situation for Seirin. They could get balls and shots through the defense, but it was beyond difficult for them to get the rebounds, most likely they wouldn't get any of them at all.

"Usually the success-rate of a field goal is around 50-60%, almost half the shots will miss." Akashi broke out speaking suddenly. "Recovering that missed ball in the rebound dictates the possession rate of the ball. It is an invaluable factor in the decision of a game." He explained, crossing his arms. "At this rate, it will be yet another zero-point-loss win for Yosen." He concluded.

And though she believed them to be the team who somehow finds a way at the end of the day, some way to come through and win, when at the end of the first quarter, they still hadn't scored a single point while Yosen was at 18, she couldn't deny the possibility.

"If they do not keep that under 20 points the next 15 seconds, till the quarter ends, their fighting spirit will be dead in the second." Akashi told them, though it was probably mainly just him voicing his thoughts.

And everyone on the court knew the very same thing, so when Himuro went for a three pointer with his abnormally graceful playing, Kagami immediately went for the kill. "TATSUYAAA!" He yelled quite loudly as he jumped, managing to grace the ball.

However, this meant that Teppei and Hyuuga were left with the two 2 meter plus tall players Okamura and Liu in the rebound. Which were impossible odds for the two of them who, though not low, were quite a lot lower.

However against all odds, Teppei managed the impossible. With incredible jumping power, he caught it mid-air with a single hand, as if it was normal, landing safely on the ground.

With this, the buzzer sounded, followed up by the speakers. "That's the end of the 1st quarter. The game will restart in two minutes." They announced.

Two minutes quickly came and passed and the players were out on the field again, Seirin with the ball. "2nd quarter has started! From Seirin's ball.. Wait… What a crushing defense!" The commentator squealed. "Yosen's so intense!" He yelled as Seirin fought to find just some kind of opening.

"Well no shit." Haizaki grumbled, watching Yosen high's movements. "They're planning to go for the kill. Right here, right now." He said.

Akashi nodded in agreement. "Yes, they are not going soft on them. Should Seirin fail to score a point now, the game is over." He agreed.

Lucy watched the young team worriedly. "What are you going to do, Seirin…" She muttered to herself.

Right as she finished her sentence, the ball was sent into Teppei's hands, standing with his back to Murasakibara in the center. With fierce determination he rolled around Murasakibara to create an opening. Of course, the tower of a man wasn't about to make it that easy for them and easily set up an unbreakable defense.

However the plan had never been for Teppei to score the ball and this became apparent as the ball was sent to the ace of Seirin, who'd positioned himself behind Murasakibara. With his superior jumping power, he caught the ball and jumped over Okamura's defense all at once.

Still though, Murasakibara didn't back down and since he didn't need to jump much, he easily reached over Okamura and put pressure on the other side of the ball Kagami was holding, preventing him from completing his dunk.

"Don't just end it on your own!" Kagami yelled. And then, doing what Aomine had done to her in their one-on-one, Kagami angled the pressure he put on the ball and delivered it right down to his little, blue haired friend.

Lucy's eyes widened when she looked at the stance Kuroko was standing in. "He's not going to shoot, is he?" She asked rhetorically, squirming in her seat a little. Though it was no stance she had ever seen before, standing with his side to the goal and looking like he would push the ball up towards the goal rather than throw it - as he did with the Ignite Passes - there was no doubt it was a shooting stance.

Murasakibara also realized this, and quickly came to the defense, raising his hands far above the very small boy, certainly blocking the ball had it been anyone else.

But it wasn't anyone else. It was Kuroko. And Kuroko, well, you don't just take Kuroko's balls. And Murasakibara found this out too, when the small boy let the ball fly and vanish midair, only to announce its presence through the sound of the net rustling after his score.

"IT'S IN! SEIRIN FINALLY MADE THEIR FIRST POINT!" The commentator yelled ecstatically as the scoreboard rose with two points for Seirin and Murasakibara was left to wonder what the hell just happened. "IT'S A PHANTOM SHOT!" The commentator named the technique while the whole crowd cheered for the underdogs of the tournament.

Lucy's face broke into a big smile and she was about to cheer, when she was halted by a single word. "Ridiculous." Akashi almost spat out. No one else could hear it besides herself and Haizaki and both just sort of stared at him strangely, but he didn't feel like elaborating. Instead his heterochromatic eyes were trained on the little, blue haired boy.

From here, the two teams played ping-pong with each other. Seirin used Kuroko and Yosen's fear of the Phantom Shot to create openings and score, while Yosen had found a weak point with Kagami's defense against Okamura, though he soon figured that out and evened the playing field a little more. Kagami's defense got stronger from here and during the rebounds Teppei made good use of his one-hand catching, the Vice Claw.

The second quarter ended with the score being evened out to a 29-17 rather than what it had been before, announcing the big break until the match would continue.

Of course, the commentator was quick to tell everyone his opinion on things. "Even though Seirin was suffering from zero points in the 1st quarter they started a rapid chase in the 2nd quarter with no. 11's scoring!" He summarized for anyone who should be in doubt. Which was no one. "And they aren't done yet! You can do it in the 2nd half! Go Seirin!" He cheered.

"With this, we'll go on a break. Second half, 3rd quarter with start in 10 minutes." The speakers announced, and all around them, the crowd began moving.

Lucy leaned back in her seat, sighing at the tension in the entire hall. It was exactly as Nijimura had predicted it would be: every match including two Miracles (or Kagami and Haizaki) had been incredibly tense matches, because they were so even in strength. And, on top of that, it was all people she knew and cared about, so that sure didn't help the situation in the slightest.

She pulled a leg up to her chest and watching this, for some reason Loke's words popped up in her mind again, the conversation they'd had not too long ago. She felt weak. She probably was weak, in her sense of the word. Only difference between the two worlds was that in Earthland she was working to get stronger seriously. She didn't here for Earth.

That had to change.

With a determined swing of her entire body, she got up from her seat. "I'll be out for a while." She told the two guys and left them in favor of the outside court she knew to be there, right outside the building.

Once there, she found three guys playing basketball there. A tall dark brown haired guy with dark eyes and piercings in both ears, who seemed to be dominating the other two, a smaller guy with blonde hair in the front and black in the back and equally dark eyes and a dark haired one with blue eyes.

She smiled and approached them. "Excuse me." She said, drawing the three's confused but curious attention. "Would you mind if I join you for a little while?" She asked them.

The guy with the strange hair smiled brightly and nodded. "Of course!" He agreed immediately, not even looking to his friends to see if they agreed. So she did instead.

The tallest guy looked at her with a tilted head. "Can you even play basketball at all?" He asked her, seemingly not finding her to be the type to could play basketball.

The other black haired guy looked at the tall one with a frown. "Naruse, that's rude." He told the guy, though he merely nodded.

Feeling a bit optimistic about her skills, she raised an eyebrow at him challengingly. "Well, why don't we find out?" She suggested, feeling a fire burning in her stomach for some reason. She hadn't been playing basketball seriously for a while, since her little match with Aomine, really… She had to take it more seriously from now on and during the games. She could probably squeeze something in there.

The guy, Naruse apparently, remained silent and just stared at her as if she was an idiot, while the other two just looked at her strangely.

Well, she was used to that. But their underestimating her would only be an advantage. "What about we play three balls, the first to get two goals wins?" She suggested.

"Whatever." Naruse said, clearly in no doubt that this would be an easy win, throwing the ball to the black haired one, telling him to send the tipoff-ball off.

Lucy and Naruse stood one each side of the mid-court line, looking at the black haired guy, who nodded and sent the ball off flying. With his way superior height, Lucy knew she'd have little to no chance of getting that one, so instead she did the same trick Akashi had used once, waiting to take it right out of his hands when he landed.

And of course, Naruse jumped and caught the ball just as it had reached its peak, only then noticing she had not jumped. Confused, but probably figuring she was just some nothing, he landed on the ground and didn't even give an effort in the transition from airborne to dribbling with the ball, which left unfathomable many openings for the blonde to take.

Of course, she did as soon as he released the ball to dribble. In a flash of movement, she had taken the ball the second it left his hand and dribbled down the court with higher speed than any of the three had anticipated she could even move at. She nimbly dribbled to the net and landed the first goal, while Naruse just stared incredulously at her.

She caught the ball under his net and threw it to him as she made it back to her half of the court, smirking just a little. She'd been around Gajeel for too long. "Maybe you should be a bit more serious, 'Naruse'." She told him mockingly.

Catching her patronizing tone, he furrowed his eyebrows at her, looking at her with what seemed to be a glare.

Either way, he was with the ball and now took her a little more seriously. Of course, she was still a girl, so she could definitely not be that strong. Was what he was definitely thinking.

So she let him pass easily, winking at his two friends as she heard him speed up behind her, aiming to show off and dunk it in. What he didn't expect was that the girl had yet another level of speed and soon she was in the air, between him and the net, putting pressure against the ball he was about to dunk in.

She smirked at him and taking a page right out of Aomine's book, she altered her grip on the ball and pushed it out of his hands.

He was taking her more seriously now and since he was so much taller than her, he was ready when she landed on the ground, aiming to steal the ball back. However, through using her body as a wall in between, she had been used to keeping the ball out of the boys' reach, so this she used again. Especially because he seemed to have some reservations with becoming too touchy with her.

Naruse fought his way in front of her, but with a pirouette of a roll, she was past him again, keeping her pace steady towards the goal, but nowhere near anything high speed. Naruse managed to fight his way in front of her again, but with a series of crossovers and one between his legs as well, she drove past him with ease.

"You're not the only one who can dunk." She told him as she heightened the speed a little towards the goal, before jumping at the appropriate distance. With this, she slammed the ball through the hoop effortlessly and landed on the ground as lightly as she could.

With that she was pushed out of everything else by the loud clapping she was presented with from the sidelines. "Damn, you didn't lose your touch, eh?" Haizaki commented. When she looked over, she saw him standing beside a stoic-looking Akashi, though it was with a hint of something alike approval in the redhead's eyes, and with a big grin on his face.

She also noticed how the other two of Naruse's friends had moved several meters the other way, away from Akashi. "What exactly is going on here?" Said redhead asked calmly, though confusedly.

Lucy smiled widely despite it all. "Did you see? I won against that guy!" She said excitedly, receiving a high five from Haizaki when she approached, ignoring the mutters of Miracles and craziness uttered by her previous opponents' friends.

"Yeah, I saw." Haizaki said as a smirk made its way to his face. "And you damn better promise me we have a one-on-one sometime soon." He said, something twinkling in his eyes.

Feeling something amiss with the suggestion, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would you want that? There's no way that would be any fun for you." She reasoned. Winning an entirely one-sided match against an opponent of that much lower level was never fun. Which was why she was going to get better and better still.

He just continued to grin. "Oh, I don't know about that. I'm sure I'll have lots of fun." He said.

Akashi sighed. "He simply wants to have his perverted dreams fulfilled." He said as Haizaki went on a rant about how he remembered every single moment of the match he'd had with Lucy during their little camp that first year. "So, what is all this about?" He repeated his earlier question.

She looked back to Naruse, who still looked dumbfounded at what had happened. "Oh, let's just say I was provoked and he underestimated me." She said, cutting it down to the bone.

"Well, he should know better than to underestimate an opponent from just one look." The redhead offered.

They were interrupted when the tall guy spotted a girl approaching them from the other side of the court. "Yuki-senpai! Please comfort me, my heart has been broken!" He said with mock sadness in his voice, though doing a complete one-eighty on the personality-scale. Just as crazy as Lucy's.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, keeping him at a distance with a single hand on his head. "No." She told him firmly, flat-out rejecting him.

Akashi sighed. "The match should be starting right around now, so we should probably go in again." He offered.

Lucy looked at him with wide eyes. "WHAT?! We have to hurry then!" She said, grabbing the wrists of the two men beside her and pulling them after her inside the building again, not wanting to lose out on any of the match.

 **All right~ Originally, I wanted to fill the entire match into this chapter, but…. Well. It didn't happen. And I found it appropriate to end off here. And then I can also get some conversation time in with Akashi and Lucy at the end. Maybe. Or something. So that's that.**

 **Some of you have been asking whether she will be telling the cute little Miracles about her true story and the answer is of course. It would be ridiculous not to, then she might as well just have been any OC in this story. So yes, she will tell them, and it is not too far away. Also seeing as the end of the story is not too far away either. (Sorry about that)  
Likewise, of course the GMG will also be added to this story. As a matter of fact, I just need to finish this match and then the one between Kaijo and Seirin and then it should begin. So you can once again remember that it is actually a crossover and not just KnB. And that should make some nice variety in the chapters. Though it will follow the manga far along the road. **

**So yeah, that's what I felt I had to warn you about. Basically, thank you for reading, following, favoriting and obviously reviewing! Though I am getting bad at replying to them, I read every single one and appreciate them more than I can put into words! So thank you very much!**

 **~Line464d**


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

 **Back again~  
Thanks for your wonderful response on the last two chapters!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nah. I can't produce something as great as Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. Wish I could. **

**Earth~**

They had just barely made it inside, before Akashi's phone began ringing in his pocket. Fishing it up as he slid out of Lucy's grasp on his wrist, he saw the number on his screen. 'Father'. "I have to take this." He said without looking up and turned around, away from the two others. Getting an affirmative remark from the two of them, he opened the door to the outside, pressing the 'Receive call' button, putting the device to his ear. "Father." Was all he said to the person on the other end.

"I have information of utmost importance." His father replied, completely skipping over the greeting. Not that that was strange for him. He turned his back to the wall and leaned against it, keeping his phone to his ear as he waited for a continuation from his father. "I have done some research on your little girlfriend, Seijuro." He told his son.

The younger redhead raised a brow as the only sign of his surprise. That was not exactly what he had expected his father to say. But he always had been a suspicious man, so in truth, it was not that unimaginable. "What have you found?" He asked his father. Outwardly, he seemed calm and collected, however on the inside, he was extremely curious as to what his father could tell him.

"Nothing." Was the simple reply. Before Akashi got the chance to ask what that meant, he got his reply. "Even with my large range of connections, not a single thing could be found on the name 'Heartfilia'." He told his son.

Akashi frowned at the ground. "Did she not tell you she was from America?" He asked his father, disbelieving of the fact not a single thing could be found on her name. It was unusual, yes, but that was just all the more reason for it to be simple to find. Especially since she came from a wealthy family.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "The name 'Heartfilia' does not exist anywhere in the entire world, Seijuro." He confirmed. "Watch out, that girl is not who she says she is." His father warned him seriously.

Though his father couldn't see it, Akashi nodded. "Yes, father." He said, returning his phone to his pocket when the conversation had ended. What did this mean? The only conclusion he could reach was the one his father had speculated in. 'She is not who she says she is', she had been lying to all of them the entire time. For once, his inner self was being completely silent as well. He was thoroughly floored with the news.

Pushing off from the wall, he began making his way inside again. There was nothing else he could do, but get the truth out of Lucy after this match was done. If that was even her name.

Approaching the seats, he found it wasn't just Lucy and Haizaki any longer, sitting where they'd sat. Another pair of people had joined their ranks, and Haizaki didn't seem the slightest bit happy about the new arrivals. Meanwhile, Aomine, one of the two new, seemed thoroughly amused with his irritation.

With a sigh, Akashi placed himself in the seat next to Lucy, who was chatting animatedly with Momoi next to her. The blonde immediately cut the conversation short and looked at him with a slightly worried smile. "Everything all right, Sei-kun?" She asked him.

He looked at her, examining her. Was this even a genuine feeling of worry she was showing him? Nevertheless, he nodded. "Everything is quite fine." He reassured her, glancing at the two new faces. "I see the group has expanded." He stated. It was annoying. It meant it could be difficult to get the blonde alone.

"Yeah, we saw Heartfilia sitting alone down here with that douchebag." Aomine said, casting a glare back at the black haired guy. "No way am I leaving her alone with _him_." He snarled. Obviously he wasn't as forgiving or as forgetting as the blonde. Haizaki simply growled back at the blue haired guy.

Lucy sighed and pouted at said blue haired guy. "He's not that bad, Daisuki-chan, give him a chance." She told him. In her opinion, Haizaki deserved a second chance. The cornrow-haired guy raised a brow challengingly at the former ace of Teiko.

The same conviction didn't exist with either of the others around her, excluding the man himself. "Lucy-chan, you're too forgiving." Momoi told her, almost berating the older girl.

This made the blonde cross her arms childishly as she leaned back in her chair, staring down at the court, where the two teams were getting ready once again. Behind her, the not so forgiven guy smirked. "Well, their opinion doesn't matter anyway, I don't give a damn." He said, gaining a huff from the pinkette. The grin remained as he continued. "All I need is your opinion." He flirted.

She just waved it off with a laugh and a shake of her head. Akashi had silently just spectated since. Had she always been the center of attention like this? Why was it that all kinds of different characters and personalities seemed to like this girl? Why was she so special? Now he was a bit more investigatory, he seemed to see things, he did not notice before. Probably because he was in the middle of it himself.

His thoughts were split apart as the buzzer sounded again and the commentator announced the arrival of the 3rd quarter. "Here it is! Second half, 3rd quarter!" He yelled. 25-17 in Yosen's favor.

The players filtered out on the court, Seirin without Kuroko on the field. But that was to be expected, Kuroko's misdirection would run out, and rather than having it become useless in the 3rd quarter, Seirin usually pulled him out and waited to bring him out in the 4th again.

Yosen started with the ball and right into a triangle-two formation, one where three players remained within the three-point arc and two pressure a player each man-to-man from outside it. Despite the sudden change, none of them seemed even the slightest bit surprised. Clearly, they had seen it coming.

The ball was passed on to Himuro, who was defended man-to-man by Kagami. The two looked at each other very intensely for what seemed like a long moment. "That guy's gonna spell trouble for Seirin." Aomine commented right as Himuro seemingly jumped up. In retaliation, Kagami also jumped up to defend the possible three-point shot. However, it was a fake, and soon the black haired guy was down on the ground, dribbling right past the guy, who'd jumped a little excessively to take the ball.

The fake-out was so smooth, the whole court seemed to hold their breath. Not a single one, not even Aomine or Akashi, though their pride got too far in the way to let them show it visibly.

Hyuuga was the quickest one to react on it, or rather snap out of it, and came into a defensive position in front of the Yosen player. Likewise, Kagami also landed on the ground and came around to sandwich him from the other side.

Himuro didn't seem to be in a particularly panicked mood, as he simply, overly gracefully, transitioned into a jump. It was almost feminine the way he so smoothly released he ball, scoring a perfect goal with neither Hyuuga or Kagami able to react to it.

The entire arena literally went silent. So silent everyone would hear it if someone dropped pin. And an eternity later, they were all finally broken out of it, when that pin - in the form of a camera - was dropped.

"He…. He made it!" The commentator said, having broken out of his trance like the rest of them with the drop, his voice gradually growing louder as he went. "I blanked out because it was sooooo~ smooth! How can he make such beautiful shots?!" The commentator asked the question everyone wanted to ask.

Now, Lucy had thought that she actually played fairly gracefully and smoothly, but right then, she was definitely proven of the opposite. And the guy didn't even do anything special. He just stopped up and jump shot, that was all.

Momoi giggled a little. "He's the polar opposite of you, Dai-chan." She said amusedly. When she got an annoyed, but questioning glare from Aomine, she was forced to continue. "He's loyal to the basics, to a 't'. Besides that, it's an extremely polished, orthodox style." She told them all and they had to agree. It was like he was truly dancing around on the field.

Still though, Seirin was hanging on, though a little shakily. By an inch, Hyuuga scored his three-pointer, despite the pressure he was put under from the defense. Despite that though, they were having difficulty. If they didn't manage to break into the inside and scored, they'd soon run out of options.

With Yosen holding the ball again, soon it was passed to Himuro again, who once again was defended by Kagami. Initiating Himuro versus Kagami. The commentator realized the same, and decided to spread it to the rest of the world. "Here it comes! Kagami versus Himuro!" He yelled. "Yosen's gonna keep on going with Himuro for the second half!" He yelled.

The two seemed to have a meaningful moment between them, before Himuro jumped up again. This time it was not a fake, and Kagami knew that too. He jumped up with impressive power, but then it seemed like the ball passed right through the redhead's hand and down through the goal effortlessly.

Once again, the commentator was ready. "Woahhh! He made it! Wait, what was that?!" He asked, cutting himself off. "I swear he blocked it… But how did the ball go right through the hoop?!" He asked loudly.

At a first glance, it looked a lot like Kuroko's Phantom Shot, but… He didn't use misdirection, which was the carrying point in the little guy's shots.

"I gotta get that trick, it's awesome." Haizaki grinned. "Even if that move's workings are discovered, it's most likely still unstoppable for those fucktards." He said confidently.

"These… 'Fucktards' have beaten Kise once before." Akashi pointed out, keeping his gaze on the court, making Haizaki scowl at him and Aomine bark out a laugh.

Haizaki grunted in irritation. "Right, but that was before he could copy you assholes." He reasoned with them. "Those guys can't beat that shit." He said certainly.

Lucy smiled knowingly. "They'd beat you and your team any day, Haizaki." She told him as Seirin swapped out Kagami to let him cool his head for a while.

Haizaki turned his glare to the blonde, but only got to open his mouth, when Aomine cut him off. "I second that." He called, his arms crossed and his eyes on the game.

Momoi's hand shot up into the air like a bullet in her excitement. "I third it! They're a strong team!" She said, her voice high-pitched as Kiyoshi did a double-clutch, stopping himself from scoring where he stood in the center. When he tried again, however, Murasakibara seemed to be enraged about something the other guy said and furiously blocked the ball. It was a feat impossible for anyone but him. You could almost only see the white in his eyes.

It bounced off the tall guy's forearm and right into the hands of Izuki, landing in Seirin's hands again. The commentator was ready on his marks. "Whaaaaat?! He blocked it with that timing?!" He asked, shocked. "What reflexes… There's nothing you can do against Murasakibara!" He screeched.

Strange things happened on the court and suddenly Kiyoshi was outside the three-point arc, with the ball, scoring a three pointer despite usually serving as a center.

Once again, the commentator was blowing the mic up. "Uwoooo! He made it?!" He asked beyond surprised. "For real?! He's a center, right?!" He continued to question the crowd, who would not be able to answer him.

With another score from Yosen, Seirin decided to switch things up again. Quite a lot, actually. Kiyoshi was now set to be the point guard, Izuki's position.

"What is this?! Seirin who's been suffering from mismatches… Decided to challenge Yosen with a mismatch?!" The commentator was quick to yell in his mic.

Kiyoshi started out with glancing up at the goal, as if to convince his opponent, Fukui, that he would be going for another three-pointer, before quickly going into a drive. This he also stopped in the middle of, jumping up to shoot at the goal.

While Fukui found himself having no chance of taking the ball, Murasakibara, who'd grown to dislike Kiyoshi it seemed, jumped up behind his teammate to take it. That when all five realized what was going on and their suspicion was confirmed, when Kiyoshi broke off what he was doing and passed the ball right down to Izuki, utilizing his 'right of postponement' again.

Unfortunately, one of the defensive players was upon him immediately, and Murasakibara came from behind. "Well, shit." Aomine muttered.

Lucy just shook her head. "There's nothing to worry about, that guy can see the entire field." She told him, something else she had learnt from Kuroko. Apparently, it was called Eagle Eye. And this situation would showcase the strength of that.

Izuki leaned back, knowing Murasakibara was right behind him, and passed the ball backwards, over the tall guy, quicker than his block. Behind Murasakibara was Kiyoshi, who'd jumped up, caught the ball and slammed it down right above all three players.

"Wow." Momoi muttered, her mouth agape. "They made sure Muk-kun wouldn't have the time to jump and scored right over him… That team-play is amazing." She said, her eyes basically glittering in admiration of it. Both she and the blonde were all-in for teamwork. Which was funny, seeing as she was in an academy and a team, which valued the individual over the team.

The game progressed, and soon enough Seirin had cut the difference down to one digit again, making good use of Kiyoshi's confusing plays and trickery, done through the use of his right of postponement and combination plays. That was until Yosen called for a timeout, the score 37-28 in Yosen's favor.

"Those guys sure know how to drive Atsushi-kun into a corner." Lucy muttered, mainly to herself. "First they make plays, which force him to jump and confuse him with that right of postponement of Kiyoshi's." She explained to herself.

Aomine, however, grunted in agreement. "Well, it's not so strange Atsushi is thrown off his game with that kind of play. Halfway through, that guy is doing it seriously." He commented. "Besides that, something he did ticked Atsushi off, he can't help but fall into their damn traps." He summed up.

Momoi nodded. "It seems that despite his gentle appearance, he's actually pretty sly.." She added thoughtfully.

Finally, the end of the time out was announced and the player filtered out on the court again. "Match resumed! And… He's back!" The commentator fangirled in his booth. "Seirin's ace, no. 10, Kagami!" He said, seeing the guy on the court again.

With Seirin on the offense, Himuro received the ball once again, on the offense against a ready-looking Kagami, who completely copied Aomine's relaxed stance. When Himuro went for the same move he had earlier, faking a jump shot only to drive right past his opponent, this time, Kagami was more prepared for it.

Despite that though, the smoothness of the guy's moves still delayed Kagami a little, but not enough to prevent him from pushing the ball out of Himuro's hands, when he tried to go for another shot.

It was only just Izuki managed to catch the ball before it bounced out of bounds. But he did and soon passed it back to Kagami, who was already on a run down the court, towards Murasakibara. The redhead got overly confident and charged right for the goal, as he would usually do, only for the ball to violently be smacked right out of his hands and out of bounds. Seirin's ball.

"He stopped him!" The commentator yelled as if it was a big surprise. "What a block… Murasakibara's just too good!" He yelled as Hyuuga helped his ace up from the ground again.

With Seirin's attack restarting, Kiyoshi found himself in the middle of being triple-teamed by none other than the captain of the opposing team, the vice-captain and the tall, Chinese player. This obviously put immense pressure on the guy.

And somehow the pressure got to him, making him commit a mistake. He dropped the ball to the ground and Fukui was quick to pick it up while Himuro was even faster at running down the court to receive and score the ball.

Kagami followed Himuro and quickly came to a defense in front of the guy. However, as it seemed like the Yosen player would go for his strange, Kuroko-like shot, Kagami slipped on the suddenly quite humid floor, making it impossible for him to jump in time to take the ball.

But apparently he did manage to grace it, because it bounced right off the hoop. "He missed! Did Kagami finally stop Himuro?!" The commentator shrieked, exaggerating what was really going on. At most, this little coincidence might help Kagami figure out what was going on with this mirage shot of Himuro's. Either way, Seirin once again bounced into the offense, Kiyoshi with the ball again. "Seirin's counter-attack! But what're they gonna do…?" The commentator asked as Kiyoshi once again was trapped in a triple-team.

Izuki called for Kiyoshi to pass the ball, and so he did. Seeing no other way, Izuki decided he should go for a three-pointer. Unfortunately it wasn't exactly his forte, as it missed its target, bouncing off the metal ring.

Muraskibara immediately went for the rebound, however just as it seemed like it would land in his two hands, Kiyoshi jumped up from behind, grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed it through the net. Only pissing Murasakibara off further.

The big center/point guard on Seirin's team only barely managed it to his team's benches, before he practically collapsed right into little Kuroko's arms. Instantly the entire team came running over, worried for their teammate and the referee called for a time-out.

Though it was beyond obvious that guy should be switched out, Kiyoshi managed to somehow convince them he was fine and could continue going. If he didn't they would have some trouble with the height-difference on the teams.

Immediately, the triple-team was headed for the worn-down Kiyoshi again, but before they reached him entirely, he passed the ball right on to Izuki again. What truly made the whole arena gasp, was that Seirin now initiated a three-man simultaneous attack on Murasakibara.

"Well damn, those guys aren't playing around any longer." Haizaki grumbled from where he sat behind all of them.

Murasakibara seemed completely unfazed with it though. Well, that was until Izuki passed the ball backwards and into Kiyoshi's hands again, having passed through his triple-team with a screen from Hyuuga.

Unfortunately… In his exhaustion, Seirin's center was off rhythm completely and the ball didn't land a goal immediately. Murasakibara realized this before the ball had even left Kiyoshi's hands, but was prevented from doing anything with Izuki acting as a screen, allowing Kagami to pass through, take the rebound and slam it straight through the hoop.

"They made it! The gap's down to five points!" The commentator managed to yell over the loud cheering from the crowd. "Seirin's finally only five points behind!"

However now Murasakibara was beyond pissed at all of them and he towered over them like a demon. Kind of like how Erza would tower over Gray and Natsu when they'd destroyed one of her strawberry cheesecakes in one of their many brawls in the guild.

His words somehow carried over the loud applause. "It's so disgusting that I feel like puking." He said, or snarled, however you wanna put it, freezing Seirin especially in the midst of their moves. "All these things you guys seek: hard work, guts, faith." All the Seirin players knew what was coming, they'd known it was possible throughout the match, knew that they'd have to pass this if they wanted to win. "I'll crush them all. Everything." The tall guy said with a deep, angry voice.

"Well damn. Those guys have awakened the monster." Aomine muttered, gauging the atmosphere around Murasakibara.

Momoi nodded, folding her hands near her heart. "I remember that one match, where he lost his temper - just like now - and scored all of a hundred points." She said, her warm, pink eyes slightly widened. "In a single match."

At that, Lucy's eyes widened. That was a ridiculous amount of points! She never knew he was capable of something like this. She knew his offense was stronger than his defense, but… Still.

Now, with Yosen at the offense and Murasakibara with them, the tall guy was marked by Kiyoshi, who seemed tiny in comparison. "He's huge!" The commentator screamed as if he realized that just now. "How do you even stop that?!" Seirin's answer to that was a triple-team on the guy. Not that Murasakibara really cared, as he easily pushed through Kiyoshi, Kagami and Izuki. "Woaaaah! He doesn't care?! It's like they aren't there at all!"

Best part of it all was, Murasakibara was actually pretty fast despite his size. So when he took the ball midair, he spun around, also midair, and dunked roughly over his defense, who had all fallen to the ground at the power of their opponent.

"Woahh! He knocked all three off at once?! What the heck is this?!" The commentator yelled confusedly, having not seen this side of Murasakibara before. Likewise, Lucy was also at the edge of her seat, surprised with what she was witnessing. Murasakibara had really entered quite a growth spurt in the Teiko years both with his game and physique.

Seirin were not ones to back down though and quickly got the ball into play again. With Murasakibara out on the offense, they could finally do what they did best. They could counter. And with Izuki already halfway down the court, this seemed realistic.

Well, until Murasakibara caught up to the guy, chasing him around like a rhino against a dog. Knowing he would not be able to force his way through, he passed the ball to Kiyoshi. It seemed Yosen had dropped the triple-team on him, in favor of letting Murasakibara have a go at the guy.

The Seirin center/point guard took the challenge and dribbled right through to Murasakibara. Here, he jumped up to shoot, making Murasakibara jump up with him, but in the last moment, he changed his mind and aimed to pass the ball to Izuki, who had weaseled his way in out of Murasakibara's field of vision.

However Murasakibara had seen that last minute change coming and had gotten tired of this kind of play and easily took the ball with his left hand, blocking both the shot and the pass with his reflexes and long wingspan.

"Woah! He stopped it?!" The commentator shrieked. "Kiyoshi, the point guard is stopped!" He yelled for the whole arena to hear, while the man himself seemed floored by the turn of events. Fukui caught the ball and was already getting ready to do a counter. "Yosen's on the counter attack!" The commentator yelled, revealing their plans. Murasakibara followed up, making it all the way to the net, basically, where Fukui passed the ball to him.

Kagami, fire up as usual, was quick to come up on the defense, jumping up to block the incoming dunk. Unexpectedly, he was completely overpowered by Murasakibara, who simply dunked as if the guy wasn't even there.

Unfortunately, he put too much force into it and broke the basket. Which was beyond ridiculous for someone his age. It even seemed to be quite a shock for his team, who probably hadn't realized the true meaning of his title quite yet. Now they sure did.

Anywho, this meant there would be a temporary break, until it could be replaced. Soon enough, the basket was replaced and the match restarted.

Seirin continued to fight valiantly to keep Murasakibara from scoring, but in the end, he forced his way right through all of their defenses, no matter who or how many they were against him. During one of his charged right through them, Kiyoshi finally reached his limit and after Murasakibara had patronized him by holding the guy up by only one arm, Seirin finally switched Kiyoshi out, sending Kuroko in instead.

The little, blue haired guy revived the flame in Seirin's team again and they continued to fight, doing their infamous rookie combo with Kuroko passing to Kagami so he could dunk it in and set up an all-court man-to-man defense, in an attempt to keep the ball from Murasakibara.

Well, it wasn't as simple as that, really. It was a defense, where the Seirin players continuously switched their marks, granting Kuroko the best chances of doing his steals. This defense, not only did it make it advantageous for Kuroko to take the ball, it frustrated the opposing players into reckless moves, from which they could also steal the ball.

And right up to the end of a very long and very dynamic 3rd quarter, they slowly caught up with Yosen, evening the score out to a 47-43 difference, though still with Yosen in the lead.

"Only the last quarter's left!" The commentator yelled right as the end of the 3rd quarter was announced. "And you really don't know who's going to win now!" He added as the speakers announced the 2 minute break. Truthfully, it could go both ways.

Momoi sunk down in her seat, breathing out deeply. "Ahhh… This is so intense!" She whined, almost sweating herself, despite not being out on the court.

"Better get used to it, Satsuki. It's gonna be like this every match from now on." Aomine promised her, his arms crossed over his chest. The only teams left were teams with a Miracle in it. Every match from now on would be those butting heads.

Those two minutes came and passed like a breeze and the 4th and last quarter was announced. Both teams made their way out on the court again, Seirin especially fired up as usual when they faced adversity, giving off a battle cry before beginning.

"It's started! The last 10 minutes! The final, 4th quarter!" The commentator yelled excitedly. He was really like a child on Christmas.

Once again, Seirin had decided to switch things up, doing a 2-3 zone, the defensive position Yosen used, with Kagami in the middle, where Murasakibara stood, the rest scattered in a half circle around him, keeping the other four away.

Still though, Yosen attacked it calmly, sending a pass to Murasakibara, who stood in the center, against Kagami, and completed an alley-oop without much trouble.

Seirin continued to score in the other end with a simple Phantom Shot, however as Yosen got the ball again, the team went to their defensive marking they'd done before.

Yosen's plays forced Seirin to return to the 2-3 zone again, but this only seemed to enrage Himuro. Probably because of the over-the-top self-certainty and trust they put into Kagami, to could cover the entire 2-point area.

With this, the black haired guy drove right past Hyuuga and approached Kagami, who was ready to take his Mirage shot, which he seemed to have figured out.

Had it not been for Himuro tricking Seirin's ace into delaying his jump, he would have also taken it, however he didn't and instead the ball landed a goal. "He scoooooores!" The commentator yelled excitedly. "At this rate, Seirin's in trouble…!" The commentator yelled. He was right though. Their defenses had been breached and Kuroko couldn't continue to score every single time with his Phantom shots.

"That shot's seriously awesome." Haizaki commented, licking his lips in amusement. "He releases the ball twice and because he is smooth as fuck it looks like he released it the first time." He explained the move, having kept his eye on Himuro to could steal the move. "But this time he knew that Kagami idiot figured it out, he actually released it on the first fucking try." He said and chuckled almost maniacally. "That shit's stored for sure."

"No need to tell us, shithead, we figured that out already." Aomine grumbled at the other guy, as they initiated a glare-down.

Lucy barely managed not to groan at their behavior, though she also found it a little funny. "You two seriously need to get a grip and stop that testosterone-fight." She said with a low, annoyed voice. It managed to make Momoi giggle and the two to scowl at her, while Akashi remained as stoic as ever.

From there on, Yosen showcased themselves as the powerhouses they were, with Himuro and Murasakibara quickly widening the point difference between them, raising it to 58-49 again.

Aomine scowled. "That damn idiot." He said, talking about Kagami. "He's obviously trying to get into the zone, but it's just impossible when you wish for it like that. To get into the zone, you can't _try_ to do it, then it will fail." He said, mainly to himself.

"Is that really how it works?" Lucy asked curiously. It sounded both right and strange at the same time.

Right as he said that though, Murasakibara took another of Kagami's balls, sending it flying out of bounds. Again. However, as Kagami went to pick it up, Kise stood there with it - he and his team had probably come to scout who they'd be up against in the next match. No one had any idea what he said to Kagami, but it seemed to get the big guy thinking.

Either way, with this, Seirin called for a time-out. And changes certainly were made from that time-out. When Seirin was once again on the defense, they went straight for a triple-team on Himuro, with Izuki, Hyuuga and Kuroko, leaving Kagami and that other tall, but seemingly mute black haired guy, to take care of the rest of the court and players.

The Chinese guy, Lieu, went for a shot, but managed to instead pass to his captain, when Kagami jumped up to block it. Okamura came around the mute guy's defenses and scored with a dunk, demonstrating that it wasn't just Himuro and Murasakibara, who could score balls on their team.

"Ohhhhhh~ Okamura dunks!" The commentator shrieked like a fangirl. "Three 2 meter guys aren't just for show! It's not all about Murasakibara!" He summed up what everyone was thinking.

Even when Yosen scored once again at their following attack, Seirin's spirit didn't disappear or fade the slightest. Rather, it seemed that it only served to power Kagami up further in response to his thinking, Kise words and their pressure on him.

And finally, when Murasakibara went for another dunk in Seirin's end, Kagami kicked the door right open, pushed the ball out of Murasakibara's hands with an incredibly jumping power and force, revealing himself to be in the zone at last.

Unfortunately, the ball flew out of bounds, as it had the umpteenth time this second half, and landed in the hands of Yosen again. Though it was clear for all to see how much pressure Kagami suddenly put on them all.

Himuro received the ball and masterfully feinted his way through the triple-team put on him, and all the way up to Kagami. Not backing down for a second, he jumped up, aiming to do his Mirage shot once again and Kagami jumped up at the first try. However, as he released his second, Kagami was still in the air, floating as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and hit the ball out of the other guy's hands with much more force than necessary.

"Tall… No… Long…?! Is there a human who can jump like that?!" The commentator asked, as confused as ever. "He stopped the Mirage shot?!" He asked loudly.

Meanwhile, no one were noticing how Kuroko had been chasing the ball Kagami had hit out of Himuro's hands. When they found out, Yosen were quick to fall back into a defense, but by then, Kagami had already received the ball and was scoring a three-pointer as if he'd been doing it his entire life. Actually, he also did a 'Midorima' and turned around before the ball landed, entirely confident it would.

The display of power from Seirin's ace completely stumped Himuro, who didn't seem to have much more will to continue going when faced with that kind of overwhelming power, while Murasakibara only seemed to get increasingly angry with it.

Therefore, the tall, purple haired guy took the ball and went straight for the net, about to slam the ball down with all the power he could muster in him. Which was a lot.

Nonetheless, Kagami powered his defense up with a forward jump to the ball Murasakibara was holding, adding to the strength he had due to being in the zone, and alas pushed the ball right out of Murasakibara's hands and making the tower fall to the ground.

"Whoa! What a guy!" The commentator yelled, bringing everyone out of their stupor of what they had just witnessed. "He stopped Murasakibara's dunk which can break the hoop… And even brought him to his knees?!" He asked, baffled.

"Amazing.." Momoi mutter. "He stopped Muk-kun…" She trailed off, having quite literally never seen this happen before, since the guy powered up. And especially not when he got serious.

"To stop Kagami now, you'd have to be in the zone like him." Aomine agreed silently.

"But someone from Yosen could do that too, right?" Momoi asked, looking to her blue haired, childhood friend. "Like Muk-kun or Himuro-san." She suggested.

"Maybe." He replied hesitantly. "But… Most likely, it won't happen." He said, keeping his dark blue gaze at Kagami. "The minimum requirement for getting into the zone is that you have to bet everything on that one game, that you love basketball, and Atsushi just lacks that. Himuro… That guy just has a lot of problems he has to figure out before he can even dream of it." He said harshly.

And right as Aomine were, none from Yosen could stop the momentum Kagami had gotten. He continued to block, steal and score every ball, steadily raising Seirin's score, until Yosen called for a time-out.

There were 3 minutes left now, and the difference was down to 4 points. 64 to 60, still in Yosen's favor. Yosen seemed to be in a serious argument over there, Murasakibara probably wanting to be subbed out because it was too much of a drag. Or something like that.

"Basically, Himuro can never step over the threshold to us. He is strong, his skill-level is high, but he's nothing more than a prodigy. He is infinitely close, but he will never step over that threshold." Aomine finished what he had been saying earlier.

With that rumbling in the back of their minds, the game was started again. Now Murasakibara had pulled his hair into a ponytail and his aura had changed. Now the match would be harder than it had been before.

This was proven when Yosen were once again in the offense and Himuro once again wiggled out of his triple-man defense, and once again jumped up for a Mirage shot right in front of Kagami. Only this time, he didn't shoot, he passed it to Murasakibara, who stood right behind Kagami, and jumped up to dunk.

Kagami was there in an instant, ready to push the ball out of Muraskibara's hands. However, the tall guy had seen it coming and quickly ducked down, passing the ball back to Himuro again. Himuro then continued to land his shot.

"It went in! What's more, isn't this the first time we've seen Yosen's excellent teamwork on the offense?!" The commentator yelled, bringing attention to the fact that this actually, truly was the first real display of teamwork from the other team.

With this, a period where the two teams played ping-pong with each other was initiated. When Kagami scored for his team, so did the teamwork between Murasakibara and Himuro. But it didn't lower the point difference, it just kept it there, steadily.

When the one-minute mark was reached, Seirin called for a member change, suddenly sending Kiyoshi out on the court again, in a last-ditch effort to stop Yosen in what they were doing and gaining control of the match again.

And that they did. When Murasakibara and Himuro once again tried their luck with the team-play they had showed at the start, after the time-out, it all followed exactly what had happened earlier. Except, when Himuro got the ball again, ready to do the Mirage shot, Kiyoshi was there.

The Seirin center did a feint, making Himuro jump up and aim to release the ball at the second try instead of the first. Of course, he knew that Kiyoshi would feint, being a master of that himself, and instead went for the first try. However, Kiyoshi had seen _that_ coming and instead, Hyuuga came from the side to push the ball out of its path easily.

With the ball now back to Seirin's hands, they sent it down the court again, to Kagami. When he released the ball, sending it towards the net, in a very high arc, it bounced off the hoop, revealing his zone to be fading.

Immediately, the center-players responded to the yell of 'rebound', but neither Lieu or Okamura could reach as far as Kiyoshi could with his vice claw, so Seirin had the ball again. When Kiyoshi landed safely on the ground again, he sent the ball directly to Hyuuga, who jumped up and scored the three-pointer the team really needed.

"It's in?! With 20 seconds left… Is this for real?!" The commentator yelled, sounding like he was shocked to the core. If he continued to be this shocked every time the Miracles played against each other, his heart would die before the Winter Cup had ended. "Seirin's finally within one point!" And true as it was, the score was 72-71.

And right from the start, Seirin started the last match in this game with a full court press, using the last ounce of their strength.

Right from the beginning, Lieu was struggling with even getting the throw-in done though finally managed to pass the ball to his captain, who then sent it off to Himuro, who was basically at the other end of the court.

When the black haired guy received the ball, he feinted to the right, before whirling to the left around Hyuuga, then came face to face with Kagami, only to pass the ball to Murasakibara, who was standing behind him.

With a declaration of victory, Murasakibara jumped up to dunk the ball in. Kagami was quick to follow up, jumped and put pressure on the ball. However Murasakibara was stronger now than he was before. It was like he had snapped. It was more than what Kagami could handle.

And Kiyoshi knew that. The center jumped up, adding a pair of extra hands on Kagami's side. With this, it was enough for even Murasakibara. The ball was sent flying.

Izuki caught the ball and Seirin immediately went on a counter attack. However as Kagami received the ball, Murasakibara was already by the goal. On the defense. It could only mean one thing.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Atsushi-kun's in the zone…?!" She asked out loud, shocked. She only received a silent nod from a just as shocked Aomine.

"With this, Kagami has no chance. His zone is already running out." He muttered in a low voice, completely lost in the game.

However in the face of adversity, Seirin had always been at their strongest, and Kagami was a prime example of exactly that. So when his teammates called out to him, he drew out power he didn't seem to have. He reawakened the zone to its full power again, but for a very limited amount of time.

With the power of his team behind him, he jumped. All the way from the free throw line. His arm was raised high in the air. Then he slammed it down with such a ferocity it was out of this world and right into Earthland.

"A turnaround..?!" The commentator asked, his voice considerably lower than it usually was. "Uwaahh… Finally… Seirin turns the game around!" He yells, with only four seconds left of the game and Seirin leading with that one point.

Just as everyone was beginning to celebrate, Kiyoshi called out to all of them. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" He loudly yelled, bringing attention to the fact that Himuro was running after the ball and throwing it to Murasakibara, who was halfway down the court already.

Kagami had burnt up all of his fuel, he could not play any more in this match. So without any obstacles, Murasakibara made it all the way down to the goal. However, here, he faced a big obstacle. He couldn't jump any longer.

"He's jumped so many times since Kiyoshi became a point guard… His knees can't handle the burden any longer." She said slowly, in realization. She'd experienced something similar the first times training with Gajeel and then again with Capricorn.

Before the guy could managed to just throw the ball, Kuroko jumped up and hit it out of his hands just as the buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the match.

"TIME'S UP!" The judge yelled so loud anyone could hear it just before Seirin and their supporters broke into cheers, the commentator included. They high fived and hugged, while Yosen were doing their best to cope, Murasakibara especially. The moment was halfway broken though, when the judge called out to them again. "Seirin wins 73-72! Greet!" He ordered them when all ten players who had been out on the court lined up in front of each other.

"Thank you very much!" They called out to each other in varying amounts of excitement and volume. In the end, the two teams separated.

Though she was happy, she looked on with worry as Murasakibara retreated to the benches, a towel over his head to hide himself from any looks and waving off his team when they tried to cheer him up.

Of course, she knew he would be fine and that the team could take care of him… She just wanted to be sure.

And that's why she got up from her seat in a hurry and smiled at everyone. "Well, I probably better head home to the Shirogane's if I want to make it before midnight at this point." She lied. Well, she had a feeling Earthland would draw her back before this day was over, but if it didn't, she would be staying at Hinata's. "Thanks for today, I really had fun!" She smiled brightly.

Momoi looked at the blonde worriedly, knowing there was only one Shirogane left there. "Will you be all right, Lucy-chan?" She asked her friend.

The blonde only nodded reassuringly. "Of course, I'll be fine!" She comforted the girl, knowing what she was referring to and ignored the pang she felt in her heart at the thought of it. "See you all around!" She said with a wave, before turning around and more or less ran away before any more questions could be asked. She sort of had a feeling she wouldn't be staying for long, kind of like how it was yesterday.

She weaved her way to the front of the crowd and then followed her mental map to where she knew the changing rooms to be, speeding up a little. Just like all the others, Murasakibara hadn't experienced loss. She wasn't too worried about him though, he displayed great team-work with Himuro at the end of that match and it was clear afterwards that the team actually cared for him in one way or the other. He would be fine.

The only one who hadn't suffered defeat yet was Akashi. Kuroko had, against Aomine's team, but generally he was the one she was the least worried about. Kise had, having lost to Kuroko and Seirin once before. Haizaki had, having lost to Kise and his team. Aomine had, having lost to Seirin not so long ago. Midorima had, also having lost to Seirin, though that was quite a while ago. And finally, Murasakibara had just now.

There was only Akashi left. And he was the one she was the most worried about. He was the one who had the most troubles, and he certainly didn't get any help from home. He didn't know what losing was or how it felt, he only knew how to win.

Speaking of the devil, she felt his heavy presence behind her. "Lucy." She heard him call out to her before she could turn. When she did, she was met by a cold and calculated, heterochromatic gaze and crossed arms. "I am aware of what you are doing, and I am certain Atsushi's team can take care of him just fine." He said, his voice devoid of any emotion, except maybe irritation.

Lucy frowned, but tried to smile just a little. "I know… I'm just worried about him, you know?" She said softly, looking in the direction she had been headed. Why was that boy always so sharp?

"Are you really?" Akashi asked coldly, making Lucy turn and look at him with a shocked and puzzled expression.

She was almost gaping at what he was saying. How could he doubt that?! "Of course I am! This is the first time he's ever lost! It's bound to-"

"And you are not lying to me right now?" He asked, cutting her off. He stared at her with that cold gaze, she couldn't even bring any of her attention to the four persons she knew to be hiding behind the corner.

"What are you saying, Sei-kun…? Lying? Why would I be lying to you about this?" She asked him confusedly, not at all getting where he was coming from. Where this was coming from.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Well, since you seemingly have been lying about so many other things recently, why should this not be one of them?" He asked her, his voice so sharp it cut straight at her heart.

She looked at him with a tender, wounded expression. "What do yo-" She was cut off again.

"Who are you really, Lucy 'Heartfilia'?" He asked her harshly.

From the look in his eyes, she knew he knew something. And the words he said only confirmed it once more. He was on the verge of finding out, if he hadn't already. "Huh?" Was all she could say though. Her mind was spinning a thousand times a second, trying to figure out what she did wrong.

"You do not truly deserve it, however I will give you an explanation." He said, not dropping the narrowed eyes or the calculating expression anytime soon. "My father did a background search on you after we left and he told me of his results." He said, watching as her eyes widened in something reminiscent to fear. "As I am sure you know, he did not find anything about you. This is why I am asking who you really are." He summed up.

Lucy threw her arms around herself in a feeble attempt to calm herself down. She had not seen this coming even the slightest, but she should have. If some random person, guy or girl, had popped up when she had been living with her father, he would have done a background search on them as well, making sure they were not someone unfit for her. She should have known.

"I'm so sorry, Sei-kun." She started, but didn't get any further.

"I do not care." He simply stated. "You are not a trustworthy person and I wish to know the name and origin of the person who has deceived me for so long." He told her, his eyes narrowing even further.

Lucy took a sharp intake of breath. "I.. I can't tell you." She told him, her voice trembling as much as she was and her eyes were tearing up. She dropped her head and covered her face with her hands. "I just… I just can't tell you."

"And why is that? If it is the location and those four idiots in the back, we can change that." He told her firmly, hearing said four idiots gasp in surprise of their being spotted.

The blonde sighed, peeking up at him from behind her eyes. "You wouldn't believe me, even if I tell you." She said honestly. This only made him tilt his head slightly, clearly taking it as an insult. "I really just can't tell you, not right now." She said.

Suddenly, footsteps were approaching from where she had her back to and soon enough, the Seirin team came into view. Immediately, the two walking in the front, Kagami and Kuroko, read the atmosphere, frowning at what they were seeing.

It was easy to see it was not a friendly conversation the two were having, what with the evil stare Akashi was giving her and the way she seemed to have sunk in on herself, actually trembling.

Kagami had to wonder what could make a woman as strong as he now knew her to be tremble before someone, she could easily mop the floor with. Just what had this bastard been doing to her?

"Is everything all right here?" He asked as they came closer, looking a little worriedly at the blonde girl, then with a hard gaze to the other redhead.

"That is none of your concern. You should leave." Akashi told him firmly, the hateful gaze directed to the taller redhead.

Kagami frowned at Akashi. "Maybe not, but you shouldn't be treating her like this, she has it tough enough already, you should know that!" He said, actually getting angry. It was barely a week ago that old man had died on her. This girl had saved his ass twice now, he needed to pay her back somehow.

"He doesn't, actually." Kuroko pointed out, referring to the fact that Akashi had left before Nijimura had begun explaining.

Lucy, realizing what they were talking about, quickly straightened up and discreetely - as much as the situation allowed - wiped her tears, before looking at the two. "Don't worry! We're completely fine!" She reassured them. Her eyes then widened when she felt the sinking feeling of Earthland demanding her once more. "Sorry, I really have to go now, it's getting late." She said in a hurry, almost stumbling over her words. "Congratulations on your win, Seirin! I'm rooting for you as always!" She yelled as she began running off and away from Akashi, and the others, in desperate need to escape the situation. Not only because of Earthland, but also because of that conversation.

Akashi glared at the back of the blonde girl. Fuck. _No._ "I demand my answers, Lucy!" He yelled after her as he also set into motion. If that was even her name. He was going to catch her and then he would get his answers one way or another. He was stopped by Kuroko stepping in front of him, stopping him in his path. "Move away, Tetsuya. This is none of your business."

"There is something you should know." Kuroko told him, not caring much about the dark feeling the other boy was emitting. "Kozo died the day before the Winter Cup started. He revealed himself to be her grandfather right before then." He stated.

The redhead glared at the boy, who was just a little bit lower than himself, especially because that roused his inner self just a little. "I do not trust anything coming from her." He told Kuroko harshly, before seemingly magically teleporting right past him effortlessly. "You should not either, she is not who she says she is." He warned him, before setting into a run, having already lost too much time on that conversation.

He rounded the first corner, the one he knew she had turned into, meeting another long hallway, with her at the end of it, seeing him then turning to the right again.

He furrowed his eyebrows at her pathetic escape and sped up to catch up with her, knowing that she was much faster than him if she got the chance to reach those speeds. He would not lose her now.

She had even managed to weasel herself into the heart of that idiotic, no-name Seirin player and all of his teammates too from just a single meeting. Their coming to her defense like that was show enough of it. When he was young and naïve, she had done the very same thing to him. He would not forgive it any longer.

When he just barely reached the corner, suddenly a bright light blinded him for a second, coming from that very hall she'd gone into.

Not speeding down, however, he turned the corner, only to find another long hall, completely empty of people and anywhere she could have turned, unless she made it into one of the many rooms. But he would have heard that.

She had disappeared without a trace.

 **Riiiight. That's the end of that~  
If this wasn't a tense/dramatic chapter, I don't know **_**what**_ **is. And Jesus it's long too. ._."**

 **Ah yes, before you all get confused. I found out - quite late - that Teppei Kiyoshi's last name was Kiyoshi and not Teppei, alas I changed that in this chapter. I will go back to the older ones at a later time and changed them as well. If I remember it anyway XD**

 **Well, hope you liked it either way! I know the match isn't the best I've made, but it is just so painfully long and I had to cut it down however I could, otherwise it'd be ridiculous. Besides, we all know how it goes. More or less.**

 **So next up is Kaijo vs Seirin. Hope I can fit that into one chapter, but I haven't been very successful with that yet, so we'll see…**

 **Either way, thanks for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! I really appreciate it a lot, you know!**

 **~Line464d**


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57**

 **Once again, thank you so much to all of your responses to my question! The general feeling I got was that you guys definitely** _ **didn't**_ **want me to skip/summarize the matches, since they were important and set the mood, but you did agree that cutting down on the details would be ideal, most of you.  
I'm a little sorry to hear some of you tend to skip the matches, because you don't know enough about basketball. All you really gotta know I will list at the bottom AN. I don't know anything about basketball either, so I do believe it's pretty understandable for anyone. Also because I do add some important things, and will in this chapter too, during the matches. **

**I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yup, I really don't own anything.**

 **Earth~**

Lucy moaned herself awake, feeling another pulse of pain run through her. It was only just she could collect herself enough to look underneath her long-sleeved shirt so see the markings still glowing red on her skin.

With a defeated groan, she leaned back again, feeling her muscles ache with just that simple movement. Ultear really hadn't been lying when she said opening the Second Origin would be painful. Really, she probably underestimated the pain it actually caused. She had passed out after all!

The blonde hissed when another pulse forced its way through her system painfully. It wasn't as bad as she remembered it to be in Earthland, but it sure wasn't forgiving either.

It was kind of odd how she came by, accompanied by Jellal and Meredy. Apparently the three of them had created their own little guild, Crime Sorciere, in which they would repent for their sins and crimes by taking on some of the things impossible for ordinary guilds and the Council to do, all of them having inside knowledge of the dark guilds.

The reason they even looked for Team Natsu - plus Wendy and Elfman - was because Jellal especially had been feeling some strange magic from the Grand Magic Games the last few years. And now they wanted their assistance in figuring all this out. To show their friendliness, Ultear offered to open their Second Origin, stored power their chances of ever reaching was right around zero naturally, and that apparently brought along an incredible amount of pain.

Obviously, that was really just a cover for Jellal to meet up with Erza though. What was worse, when he pulled her off to talk alone, he lied and told her he had a fiancé somewhere. It was ridiculous, he was just shy. And he had almost kissed the redhead too!

How did she know this? Well, she explored her skills as a spy, is all.

She couldn't contain a sigh of resignation at the fact that she was now stuck at Earth, would probably in a constant interval feel that pulse of pain, would probably look like someone insane in the eyes of anyone looking, with her groaning and it was only a matter of time before someone, most likely someone from the Miracles, would find her.

She was already not looking forward to it.

With yet another sigh, she took a look around to figure out where she was. With eyes widened in confusion, she found herself in a little… Wagon, of sorts. A wooden one, connected to a bike. It wasn't big, per say, but big enough to hold a single person or so.

She had somehow ended up here? At the bike-parking lot of the Winter Cup? Really? Of all places…

Pulling herself together, she actually managed to get up from the wagon, but she was forced back down as she did, landing down in the cart again. Covering her face with her hands, she gave herself just another moment.

She really had hoped she'd be feeling much better when she showed up here… It would not be fun if she stumbled into Akashi now… Not that she'd let that happen. She couldn't tell him, he would not believe her. It would only make it worse, he'd think she was just making up stories, if she told him. He'd get even more angry, he'd hate her even more.

And even though he had been so cold with her, she didn't want him to hate her.

So she would stay away from him until the time was right wouldn't make any contact at all. Then she just had to hope he hadn't told this to the others…

"Would you mind my asking what exactly you are doing here, Lucy?" She heard a voice inquire, kicking her right out of her trance.

With a jerk of surprise and a hand to her heart, she fell back in the wagon as she looked up at the intruders. "Shin-kun, Takao." She breathed out, recognizing the two faces. "Ah, you scared me." She said as she calmed herself down again.

"I'm sorry, Lucy! We didn't mean to scare you!" Takao quickly apologized. "We were just wondering what you were doing in our wagon." He explained.

So… They hadn't seen her moment of weakness, unable to stand? Well, that was good at least. Then it struck her mind. "Wait… _'Our'_ wagon?" She asked, looking down at the wagon in surprise. This was theirs? Wasn't irony just great sometimes?

Takao grinned. "Yeah, that's how Shin-chan prefers to be transported, he's a bit picky." He laughed, amused.

Meanwhile, Midorima himself was quite nonchalant about the fact that Takao had just made fun of him. Instead, he just pushed his glasses up with his bandaged fingers. "My question still stands, what are you doing in our wagon?" He repeated the question, which had already been asked twice, clearly annoyed he had gotten no answer.

"Ah, sorry Shin-kun." Lucy said and moved to get up and off the wagon. A little shakily, she accepted Takao's offered hand with a smile. Then she turned to the Miracle again. "I just woke up there, I don't know why." She explained. If she could, she would love to have a say in where she woke up, but she didn't. It was actually surprising it hadn't gotten her into more trouble than it had, considering everything.

Takao looked at her with widened eyes. "But… We left it ten minutes ago-"

"I see." The tall, green-haired guy said indifferently, cutting his friend off and seemingly not noticing the blonde's slight flinches of pain now and then. Neither had Takao - much to her luck. He turned around to the Winter Cup building. "Let's go." Was all he said as he began moving towards the building.

"Oh, you're going to be watching the match?" She asked, hoping to guide Takao's attention away from the fact she had appeared in their cart within ten minutes.

"Naturally." Midorima simply replied.

Takao sighed at his friend, then smiled brightly to Lucy, cleaning up for his friend and teammate. "Yeah, because we know we will be playing against one of them, so might as well learn as much as possible!" He reasoned.

"Oh, that's smart." She admitted.

At this point, there were only four teams left: Shutoku, Seirin, Kaijo and Rakuzan. Shutoku would of course be matched against Rakuzan, since Seirin was with Kaijo. The winners of each match would play each other for the 1st place and the title as the best high school basketball team in Japan, whereas the losers of the two matches would play for the third placing.

So, actually there were only four matches left, and the Grand Magic Games would start right after she returned to Earthland, the very same day. She'd be incredibly busy and most likely also stressed out with everything going on in her life right now.

Lucy looked back to her two male companions as they made their way inside. "So is it just the two of you or will your team be with you?" She asked the two of them.

Knowing what she meant, Midorima shook his head. "They will be there, however we will not be sitting together." He explained curtly.

Takao nodded. "Apparently they think it will make a difference to see it from different perspectives." He said, adding a shrug as he spoke.

Having seen the last few matches, she smiled a little. "Not to say the rest of the teams aren't strong, because they are, but I just have this feeling the main focus will be on Kagami and Ryo-kun, and in some sense also Kuro-kun." She said thoughtfully, putting a finger to her chin.

The black haired Shutoku player looked at her confusedly. "Ryo-kun?" He asked. Had he thought about it, he would figure it out pretty quickly, but he didn't.

"Ryota Kise." Midorima clarified. He glanced at the blonde. "Maybe you should consider using our actual names instead." He suggested. Then he looked at Takao as well. "You should too."

Takao pouted. "But Shin-chan sounds so cute~ I can't just stop now!" He protested childishly, though on purpose.

While Midorima glared fiercely at his friend, Lucy spoke up. "Why, though? Isn't it fine as it is?" She asked curiously. She'd been calling them that for a long, long time and never had she heard any complaints other than from Aomine, but she also wanted him to complain.

"Because." The Miracle started, once again readjusting his glasses. "One, it causes confusion for the less intelligent, as we just saw." He said, ignoring the 'Hey!' Takao responded with. "And as you must have figured out by now, we actually managed to grow up in the duration of those two years. Alas, those names fit thirteen-year olds and not so much sixteen-year olds." He reasoned.

"Oh…" Lucy said, flustered. She couldn't deny he had a point. It was only the day before she actually really, truly realized that these guys had grown up, when Akashi had pointed it out for her. But with the other thing Akashi pointed out to her, it was clear what filled most in her mind. "I'm sorry… Midorima." She said hesitantly.

"I did not mean that name." He told her a little harshly, though the ones who knew him knew that that was just his usual tone.

The blonde looked at him with wide eyes. "B-but isn't it a bit… Uhm… Well, rude to use another's first name here?" She asked. She was still not all strong on the customs here in Japan and luckily, from what she knew, America was more like how they acted back on Earthland.

Takao shook his head. "Not when you're asked to use it!" He told her, lifting his finger to emphasize he wanted to make a point. "Usually you go to the first-name basis when you're familiar or close to the other person, and it's safe to say you two would be fairly familiar with each other, right?" He asked. All he got was silence from the two. "… Right?" He tried again.

Midorima hesitated, then nodded. "Something like that." He agreed.

Lucy breathed out as another wave washed over her nerves. "All right, I'll do my best to remember to call you by 'Shintaro', then." She said. Most likely, she'd still fall back in her old habit of adding the 'kun', but she'd be thinking about it. Should she just do the same for the others, or…? No, she should probably ask them first.

Takao smiled brightly at her and Midorima gave her an appreciative nod, before all three went inside. Immediately, half on reflex and half because she was paranoid, she scouted the hallways for a certain redhead.

She really didn't want to bump into him now, especially because it didn't seem like Midorima was particularly suspicious of her yet. And if Akashi came and claimed she was a liar - which wouldn't entirely be a lie - he'd immediately become suspicious of her.

Luckily he didn't seem to be there. Never dropping her guard, she followed Midorima and Takao to the seats. None of them said anything, so that hopefully meant she was discreet enough about her paranoia.

"If it's Captain you're so worried about, don't be."

"HAA?!" She shrieked and jumped a half meter up in the air at the sudden whispered voice in her ear as she twirled at the sudden intruder. "Hayama!?" She squeaked at the known face.

"Hiya!" He said, greeting her with a hand in the air and smile which showcased his snaggletooth.

Midorima and Takao had also turned around at her loud outburst, surprised. And what they then saw was even more surprising. "Rakuzan?" Takao slowly asked.

Midorima sighed, nonchalant as ever despite his shock, readjusting his glasses to hide his eyes from sight. "We will be saving a seat for you, Lucy." He told her, before grabbing Takao by the arm and dragging him off.

Both blondes looked after the two, Lucy with a giggle at how Takao was trying to struggle out of Midorima's grasp. "Those two were from Shutoku, weren't they?" Hayama asked, also looking in the direction of the retreating backs.

She looked back up at him, suddenly and very late realizing that those two teams would be playing against each other here, after Seirin and Kaijo had. She hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, they are." She confirmed. There was no use hiding it now, he'd already figured it out.

For a moment, he was silent, before he released a sigh. "Man, you have connections everywhere." He said almost dejectedly, as if he wanted to have those connections.

She smiled at him amusedly. "I guess I do." She agreed. In the basketball world, they all probably would be connections in the future. Well, that was if she even was here for a such a long time. When she remembered what he'd told her, her smile dropped. "The thing you said about Sei- Akashi, what did you mean?" She asked him. If Midorima didn't appreciate his nickname, she knew Akashi didn't either… And it just didn't feel right to address him by first name at this point.

The other blonde looked at her curiously, noticing the change in nickname for his captain, then brushed it off with a sigh. "Well, Captain just doesn't believe it's necessary to have to scout out which of the teams we will be playing, so he's not there." He said with a shrug. "Besides, he's too stuck up to let anyone know he's curious about the winner too." He said with a wink.

Lucy smiled a little, only barely able to hold in a breath of relief. "Oh, really? Well, that's a shame." She said, her voice growing lower as she spoke and clinging falsely even in her own head. Right now she couldn't feel anything but relief over the fact he was arrogant enough to not scout out their opponent for the finals.

Hayama looked at her with a frown, scratching the back of his head. "Hmm…. Yeah." He just said, not wanting to mess things up for the girl more than he already had by telling the others and spying on her and Akashi. Though he was curious about the whole ordeal. Internally berating himself, he dropped a hand on the girl's head and ruffled her hair. "Well, see you around, Lucy!" He said and began walking off in the opposite direction of where the Shutoku members had gone.

She smiled and waved at him as he left, before she sent into a brisk pace to catch up with her two companions. Though Hayama had said that Akashi wouldn't show up, she couldn't help looking around for any redheads in the arena, though only a quick breeze of a look. None caught her eye, so that meant Akashi probably wasn't there.

When she took a step up the first step of the staircase, suddenly she froze where she stood, digging her nails into the palms of her hand. Opening the Second Origin certainly wasn't just for anyone, that she had learnt.

It only took a second before the pain faded away from being excruciating to bearable. With that, she thawed out of the icy state and looked around, this time to find where she was supposed to sit, many had met up already and both teams were showing off at each other with their warmup-exercises down on the court.

"Lucy!" She heard her name called and saw Takao waving his hand high in the air from where he was placed on one of the middle rows. Midorima acted as if he didn't know the guy, though it was obvious, what with the empty seat beside him and the matching, orange jerseys.

She smiled and waved back, before speeding up into a slow jog, placing herself on the other side of Midorima. "Thanks for saving a seat for me." She thanked them gratefully.

"You came at the right time, the match is about to start." Midorima told her. She could only guess it was his way of saying 'you're welcome'. Fortunately for her, none of them asked what was going on with Hayama, though she didn't doubt they were curious about it.

With an internal sigh, she refocused her attention on the starting match below her. Kasamatsu and Hyuuga gave each other a quick greeting, before both teams lined up and did the official greeting.

As usual, the commentator was the first guy to say anything. "It's only been two years since their formation, but they've crushed all of their opponents since their Winter Cup debut! They're the revolutionary Eye of the Typhoon of this competition!" He squealed ecstatically. "The miraculous new star, Seirin High School!" He yelled loudly.

It was a little ridiculous to think about - that a team only a pair of years old could go so far and even come as far as into the semifinals, when they were up against teams, which were much older than them and probably also with a long history.

Either way, the commentator continued his fangirling. "Wearing their traditional blue, these national-level veterans have come from the highly competitive Kanagawa prefecture! They had flawless offense and defense before, but now they've added a member from the Generation of Miracles, Ryota Kisa, to become a truly perfect team!" He summed up for everyone in the arena, despite them all clearly already knowing. "The blue elites, Kaijo High School!" He called out.

Weren't these introductions getting quite a bit longer than they used to be? Or was he just extra hyped today?

The two teams bowed to each other and promised to have a good match. With a blow in his whistle, the judge threw the ball up into the air, announcing the start of the game with the tipoff.

The two competing for the ball were the two centers of the teams; Kiyoshi for Seirin and Kobori from Kaijo. As soon as the ball reached its peak, the two shot off the ground and it was so close, no one knew who had taken it before it landed in Hyuuga's hand. And even then, no one actually knew.

Hyuuga immediately passed the ball to Izuki, who proceeded to dribble a little further up the court, before passing it to Kuroko, who was further than he was.

When the blue haired guy received the ball Hayakawa quickly came into a defensive position in front of him. Kuroko, however, easily bypassed him with the Vanishing Drive, then following up with the Phantom Shot, making it entirely impossible for the opposing team to even hope to take the ball.

"I still don't get what's up with hat shot, but Seirin gets a head start!" The commentator shrieked in his mic, already excited despite it being the first ball.

"Hey, Shin-chan, they're going all out, aren't they? Right from the beginning." Takao asked him, a little smile playing on his mouth.

Midorima nodded. "It does seem like they aim to make a lead for themselves before Kise uses his Perfect Copy, because they realize there is nothing they can do against that." He agreed. "You just have to wonder-"

He was cut off when suddenly the ball shot off from Kaijo's end of the court and landed right down through the net in Seirin's side. He had literally just used Midorima's 3-point shot.

"He breaks out with Perfect Copy right from the beginning?!" Lucy asked, surprised. There was no way in hell he could do that if he didn't. Seirin seemed to realize the same thing as they turned to look at Kise, who might as well have looked like someone who had opened the gates to the Zone.

"Apparently. Maybe they're trying to make a lead Seirin can't bounce back from too?" Takao suggested. It was true, usually Seirin were slow starters, only fully giving it their true all around the 3rd quarter and making their comeback then, in the last second.

Nonetheless, Seirin didn't seem to lose their spirit just because of that, as Kuroko sent one of his stronger passes down the court and right into Kiyoshi's hands. As Seirin's center began jumping up to land the ball in the goal, Kobori from Kaijo also jumped up, making it impossible for Kiyoshi to score.

So rather than scoring, Kiyoshi quickly dropped that and passed the ball back to Hyuuga, who then proceeded to free himself from any opponent, to could land a three-pointer.

However right then, Kise jumped in from the side, swinging his arm to ram into the ball and blow it entirely off course - just like Murasakibara would have done it. He sure was going all out right from the beginning.

Of course, his team also knew better than to deny him the ball at this point, so of course Kasamatsu passed the ball to his ace. "Uwaahh.. Their switching between offense and defense is really fast!" The commentator gushed out loud. "And Midorima's high trajectory, super long-range three-pointer!" He added as Kise indeed changed into Midorima's shooting stance.

He didn't get the chance to shoot though, as Kiyoshi quickly jumped in the path of where the ball would have been, stopping the blonde from doing anything further. However, that didn't mean it was a dead end for him though, as he just drew on Aomine's agility and ability to change his pace whenever he wanted to.

With that, he easily bypassed Kiyoshi, only to have his next obstacle visualized, Kagami. "If Kagami wants even a slight chance of stopping Kise at this point, he will have to use his 'animal instinct'." The green haired guy spoke his thoughts out loud as Kagami seemed to realize the same thing.

Lucy nodded absently as she kept her eyes on the court. It was still too early to get into the Zone, way too early, so animal instinct would be the ideal state for the guy right now. It wouldn't be as extreme as the zone, but it would heighten his senses and through that sharpening his gameplay. If it didn't work out though, Seirin would have a really hard time, just as Midorima said.

Though it seemed Kise had prepared for this to happen to some extent. Without speeding down, he went straight for the other ace. There was a strange air of calm, yet also intensity about him as he suddenly crouched low and did a deliberate series of dribbles. At the high speed of the dribbles and it being under and around the blonde's legs, suddenly Kagami tripped and fell back down on the ground, allowing Kise to score another goal.

"Well." Midorima started out, adjusting his glasses as usual. "It certainly isn't as graceful as the original's." He said.

Takao looked at his friend with a half annoyed look. "If it works, then it works. And this worked. Screw grace." He responded as finally the commentator awakened again.

"He made it! All of his movements are exactly the same as those of the other Generation of Miracles'!" He fangirled. "There's no way they can stop this!"

Lucy, however, was thoroughly confused with what she had just witnessed. That was a copy of one of the Miracles? "Wasn't that just an ordinary ankle break?" She asked out loud. Sure, ankle breaks weren't exactly easy to do, but this was Kise. Her question made both Shutoku players look at her strangely. "What?" She asked, curious but slightly exasperated with that look she was getting.

"You… Really haven't watched many of Rakuzan's matches, have you?" Takao slowly asked, though seemingly confused about that very fact. All three blocked out the fact that the whole crowd gasping with Kuroko's Phantom Shot being taken. It didn't slip their attention, they just didn't react on it.

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded. "Yeah… I haven't really had the chance." She agreed. Some of the earlier matches were played on the same day, but it always ended up so that she'd be leaving before she even got to see that second match. Incidentally, Rakuzan's matches had all been the second match of the day. It was almost as if someone out there wanted to build up the suspense.

Midorima breathed out. "It is only Akashi's trademark technique." He told her almost sarcastically. Seeing her confused expression, he continued. "With the use of his Emperor Eye, it makes it a simple task for him to perform." He concluded.

"What is the Emperor Eye, exactly?" She asked. She had never gotten an answer to exactly that question yet, and right now, she was probably more curious about it than she had ever been.

This time even Midorima looked at her with visible shock on his expression. "You haven't been told about the Emperor Eye?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "Not really, there were other things to talk about back when I returned… I haven't really had the chance yet." She deliberately chose not to tell him about the fact that Akashi had completely and utterly shoved the topic off the field, never to be brought up again.

"Simply put." He started out, fingering with his bandages. "With the Emperor Eyes, Akashi can predict what his opponent will do. The future, in other words. Usually he uses it in order to perform his ankle break." He explained.

Lucy didn't need to hear the end of that sentence, it simply floated in the air. To show his superiority. That was why, or at least part of why, he was doing it. "I see." She said, keeping her eyes closed for a moment.

Then she looked down at the court again, only to see Kise completely annihilating the Seirin team. Using the Miracles' movements left and right, he scored every single time and defended every single shot Seirin released. He completely dominated them.

"Kise's not letting up! He's too good!" The commentator squealed. "From the beginning it's been an unmatched, one-man offense and defense… Also, there's already a 13-point difference in only 3 minutes!" He yelled.

And right as he was, the score board hadn't changed at all since Kuroko's first goal in the very beginning on Seirin's side. Kaijo's however…. It was 15 to 2. And that difference had been created in three mere minutes.

However, this was also when he pulled back, letting his own skills take over. He was going to save the last two minutes for the end of the game, to also could dominate them then should things go south.

"About your earlier suggestion, Takao." Midorima said, drawing his friend's attention. "I don't believe Kaijo's aim was to get a good lead, I believe it was to disrupt the flow for Seirin." He voiced his thoughts.

"That sounds about right." Said friend agreed as Hyuuga threw the ball at the net, but missed and the ball bounced right off the metal hoop. The ball flew off in a wide arc over the defense.

As Lucy's eyes traced the ball, followed its path over the many players as it moved almost in slow-motion, suddenly she stopped following the ball and just froze.

This just didn't happen.

She was looking straight into the red and yellow eyes of the very person she had wished to see the least. Worst part is, she was clearly not the first to realize the other was there. Though they were separated by a whole court, they might as well have been sitting right in front of each other, that was what she felt.

She couldn't even avert her gaze to watch how Seirin was doing. It was as if they were doing a competition. The loser would be the first one to look away. But that was not why she couldn't look away, she just didn't dare to. She quite literally _couldn't._

She was only burst out of her trance, when the loud noise of the ball slamming into the backboard made her jerk towards the sound in surprise. While she was out of that trance, she had also been the first to look away. She had lost.

Now, she fought to not look up at the redhead again. She knew that if she did, she would only get crushed by the pressure he put on her.

She couldn't focus on the match or what was going on around her at all though, not even when Midorima and Takao talked about it. She watched it, but only the mere, superficial and general part of the match stuck in her head.

Things like Seirin subbing in a first year to calm their rushing down, Kaijo subbing Kise out because of his injury from the previous match, Kuroko being subbed out after Kasamatsu figured his Phantom Shot out. How Kagami broke through a double team with little to no effort and how Seirin evened the score out between the two teams right till the end of the 2nd quarter, where it was equal.

That was quite literally all she got out of the match. Her focus was divided, she could easily feel how Akashi's gaze was burning a hole in her from across the arena. She could imagine exactly how those eyes looked, cold and hard.

Right as the 1st half ended, Midorima's phone called. As he answered it, Lucy felt a shiver of premonition run down her spine. Even without him saying it, she knew who had called. "Did you want something, Akashi?" Midorima asked.

It was the only voice Lucy could hear in the whole room. The commentator, the crowd, the speakers. Everything else was drowned out. She couldn't even remember feeling this threatened ever, in her whole life. It was solely directed at her too.

While she despaired, Midorima had paused for a bit, allowing Akashi to speak. "I see." He said, when the redhead finished. He pulled the phone away from his ear and offered it to her. "He wishes to speak with you." He told her, though she already knew that.

Lucy stared at the little object for a long, hard moment. "Of course he does." She said in a whisper as she took the little thing and brought it to her ear with trembling hands. "Akashi." She said, her voice a calm she didn't feel.

"Lucy." She heard him respond in the other end. Finally, she dared to look up again, only to find it a mistake. It was exactly what he wanted her to do. His mismatched eyes burned themselves as a threatening image in her mind. "I do believe there is something you forgot to tell me yesterday." He told her.

"I told you, I can't tell you." She repeated what she had told him the day before. "Why can't you just accept that?" She asked, almost desperately.

"That is obvious. It is simply not something I can just forget." He told her sternly. "Besides. Seeing you run like you did was exhilarating, now I only want to know all the more." He told her, clearly enjoying the situation. "You will not escape me today like how you did yesterday though, I will catch you this time." He warned her.

"I won't tell you anything, no matter what you do to me." She told him, once again with a voice, which couldn't possibly be her own. She didn't feel an ounce of the confidence it pronounced each word with.

"We will see about that." He simply said and cut off the line, letting his phone drop.

She handed the phone back to Midorima, not breaking her current eye-contact with Akashi. "Thanks for lending this to me, Shintaro." She said evenly. She'd rather not have received that call, but there was no way around it now.

She could see him looking at her for a short moment, before he accepted the device and just nodded. "It is no problem." He replied.

Honestly, she had lost all sense of time, and soon enough the match restarted. Still, though, her focus was completely gone from the game. Even though she looked at it and tried to watch, her attention was solely on the other guy.

There was only one option for her. Like last, she would run until she faded away to her own world, stay out of his range. She couldn't do anything else.

To think things had taken this turn, she would never have guessed it.

Seirin continued to pull ahead for the entire 3rd quarter, despite Kaijo's best efforts to keep up. And it was first in the last 4 minutes of the 4th quarter, that this changed.

At this point, both Kise and Kuroko were subbed in from their respective teams. Immediately, Kise brings out his Perfect Copy, though with the intent to keep it going for the remainder of the match. With the crowd having turned on them and now also Kise's incredible power, Seirin began to stumble.

Kise turned the match around entirely and it wasn't before the last 40 seconds Seirin got their things together again. After a time-out from Seirin, the team goes for a run-and-gun technique, suddenly playing very aggressively. With it, they finally manage to score after three minutes. Not only that, their defense was tight as well, they didn't let Kise through at all and forced him to pass to Kasamatsu, who then proceeded to score.

With four seconds left, Seirin went on the attack again. Doing a counter, Kagami reached the net, aiming to dunk it in, but was prevented from doing so by Kise. Fortunately, he could pass to Kuroko, who made his Phantom Shot right as the buzzer went off, ending the game with 81-80 in Seirin's favor.

She couldn't even appreciate their win, all her mind focused on was her impending need to escape. Her plan was to go to the women's toilet as it was. No matter how much he wanted to know, his upbringing would definitely not allow him to enter there.

When the game ended, she immediately shot up from her seat and began walking out with an unnaturally fast pace, through the many rows of people. She knew Akashi had begun moving out as soon as she had, she didn't doubt it for a second. Unfortunately, the women's were closer to him than they were to her.

Of course, if she didn't want him to become even more suspicious of her, she'd couldn't run as fast as she really wanted to, though she had far exceeded that speed limit already. It had to just be a one-time thing he'd hopefully forget.

Who was she even kidding? He was on to her already.

Nonetheless, she had to escape. As soon as she cleared the many rows, she basically flew down the stairs and continued to speed through the halls.

She hadn't gotten very far, before her instincts flared in her mind in a searing red, warning her to immediately hide behind the corner she had just passed.

She pressed herself flat against the wall, her back to the hall her warning signals had alarmed her of. Right as she stopped moving, she heard slow yet delicately approaching footsteps.

"I know you are here." Akashi told her.

She closed her eyes shut and held her breath. Damn that Emperor Eye far into hell. He'd probably foreseen where she had aimed for and gone straight there.

"I know you are hiding from me, shivering in fear." He continued with an even, emotionless voice.

And right as he was, the hand she had placed over her own mouth to keep herself from gasping was shaking.

When she was just about to break and take a breath, thereby revealing her position, the soft footsteps began moving in the other direction, away from her. For just a moment longer, she held it, until those footsteps couldn't be heard any longer.

But that was also when she finally breathed in and out deeply, sinking down to the floor, dizzy with the lack of oxygen in her system.

Thank god. He had probably thought that he had been mistaken in his premonition.

He had definitely known she would be going to the ladies' room to throw him off and had aimed specifically for that. He knew her too well. Unlike all of them, she had not changed the slightest since she had disappeared on them.

Pulling her knees up and resting her forehead on it, she sighed, still trembling. This couldn't go on forever, it really couldn't. She knew that, he knew that and she knew Nijimura knew it too. Not to mention her team, who had been trying to convince her to just go ahead and tell them all.

She knew she had to… But it was just so, so hard. If she told them now, they'd hate her. She knew they would. They would think she didn't trust them enough to tell them something like that, when that definitely wasn't the case.

She wanted to tell them, actually. She just couldn't. No… That wasn't exactly it. The hard and honest truth was, that she simply had gotten so used to lying about everything and making up stories, it just had become easier to do, than to tell the truth.

With lies, she could prevent them from hating her. She could cover up the embarrassment of being knocked out on a simple mission, her injuries, her weakness. She could hide all of that from them. She wouldn't be judged by them.

Of course… She knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Lying wasn't right, they deserved to know more than anyone. To get their trust, she'd have to trust them too. It was a two-way street.

 **Sooo~ Leaving it off there!  
Please, do tell me what you all think of the way the match came out in this one!  
Of course, she was unfocused in this one, so the next few matches will be a little more filling: I was thinking of generally detailing the first and last quarter - or in this case when Kise came back on the court - and then sort of summarize the middle two. What do you think?**

 **To those of you, who don't think they would understand the matches and what goes on, here are the few words that are the only you truly need:  
** **Pass** **\- The action of throwing the ball to another of your teammates  
** **Steal** **\- Stealing the ball, either when the ball is thrown from one opposing teammate to the other, or right out of their hands when they dribble  
** **Dribble** **\- Gently pushing the ball into the floor to move forward, usually with your dominant hand  
** **Crossover** **\- Dribbling the ball from one hand to the other in a 'v' shape, hitting the floor  
** **Drive** **\- Using dribbles and techniques to get past the defender(s)  
** **Feint** **\- Making the opponent think you're doing one thing, but then do another  
** **2-pointer** **\- Scoring from within the 3-point arc  
** **3-pointer** **\- Scoring from outside the 3-point arc  
** **Faults** **\- Breaking the rules of the game: grabbing another's shirt to stop them, using your feet to pass, dribble or etc. the ball, things like that. Counts when done on the opponent with the ball  
** **Free throw** **\- A throw gained from an opponent player committing a fault on you, giving you the chance to throw the ball for free, gives one point  
** **Rebounds** **\- If the ball misses the goal or bounces off the hoop, then the teams go for the rebound - to take the ball before the opponent to either defend your own goal or make sure to score  
** **Positions** **\- The placements of the players on the court. Only important one to understand is the 'Center' position, which is basically right underneath the net both in offense and defense  
** **Tipoff** **\- Start of the game, where the ball is thrown up by the judge, while the two tallest members usually, and usually the centers, jump up when the ball reaches the peak of the throw and fight to get the ball into their own team's hands  
** **Screen** **\- When on the offense, one player can support his teammate, who has the ball, by blocking the way of the defender, to clear a path for his teammate  
** **Dunk** **\- Scoring the ball by jumping up to the hoop, so that you can touch it, and slamming the ball down  
** **Counter** **\- If an opponent's shot is a failure and 'your' team gets the ball, you can throw the ball to a pair of your teammates, who run down to the opponent's goal in advance, to more easily get through to the goal without a thick defense.**

 **That's basically all you have to know! If there's anything else you're confused about, I'd gladly explain in the reviews and otherwise the internet is a great source of knowledge :P**

 **Hope you liked it! And thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited and read!**

 **~Line464d**


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58**

 **Didn't get to proofread the last half, so… Yeah, probably isn't too bad… I hope XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope, nothing is owned by me. **

**Earthland~**

The trip to Crocus had been horrible.

Apparently, when Lucy had passed out, Erza had snapped out of her pain, like the demon she was. Being able to think rationally, she called Master Makarov to tell him of what Jellal and his group had told her. All the while coldly ignoring her remaining teammate's suffering.

When Lucy had returned, the two guys were still barely keeping it together, whilst she was over it entirely. Crime Sorciere had left a while ago, and team Natsu didn't have any more time, they had to go.

Without mercy, the redhead had dragged the two complaining potato-sacks over the cobble-stone to the train, where she threw them on the seats. Not only did Erza fall asleep before knocking the two complaining guys out, so did Elfman. And…. Elfman snored. A lot.

So, between Gray and Natsu complaining and arguing amidst it, Happy constantly begging her for a fish and Elfman's snoring, she was having one of the worst train rides in history. She was just about ready to rip Natsu's head off, when he decided to also tip and fall towards her when the train started, getting motion sick as well.

It was really just not her day.

When the train finally stopped, she was basically fuming with irritation. Out of all the things the guild master told her, only the fact that they had to be back at their inn before midnight registered and stuck in her mind.

With that, she left her things in the room she shared with Erza and Wendy, before telling them she was going for a walk to take a look at Crocus. Truthfully, she just needed to calm the thunder storm within her before she struck someone.

So she went out and enjoyed the fresh air and the many people all around. The last month she'd been training with her Grand Magic Games team and those Spirits, so it was only just now she had the chance to see how Earthland had changed those 7 years she was gone.

Truthfully, it hadn't changed much. A few of the old shops she remembered visiting weren't there any longer, instead replaced by new ones. The people seemed to be as they were before, though there were many more now than there used to be. But that was most likely due to the Grand Magic Games starting now.

Though, it was just about the amount of people there were in the busy streets of Tokyo every time of the day. Without the many screens everywhere with advertisements and such though.

Really, it was just as she remembered it to be. It really made her happy to know not everything had changed on her.

She didn't have to walk very far before she had calmed down completely. Well, it may also have helped that she went and bought a strawberry-vanilla milkshake in a little shop, after she hadn't gotten one in a little over seven years. All thanks to Capricorn.

It was probably the most delicious drink she had ever tasted. And who could be angry when they were drinking their favorite drink? Exactly, no one.

Looking around, she also realized the many people here primarily were from some guild or another. All here to participate in the Grand Magic Games… And they were all Fairy Tail's, _her,_ rivals for the top spot. It was many rivals to have, but she was sure Fairy Tail would fight their way through it. They always did.

She was caught off guard when suddenly she felt a pair of arms circle around her waist from behind, pulling her back and into what she recognized as a man's chest.

Nonetheless, she was surprised by the sudden action, and gasped. "Huh?!" She asked, trying to turn around, but finding herself confined in the embrace of whoever this guy was. What the hell was going on here?!

"Ah, you're as gorgeous as I remember you to be, Lucy." A familiar voice whispered in her ear as a tuft of honey-brown hair entered her peripheral.

Realizing who it was, she giggled. "Hibiki." She stated, relaxing at the knowledge that it was just him and not some creeper.

Giving her a quick squeeze, she was twirled off into another one's embrace. This time, she found herself in such a position she would have fallen if the person didn't have an arm supporting her lower back. It wouldn't be a very elegant fall either.

Luckily, the person did and this time she could look up into the face of that person. "Eve." She recognized him.

He smiled brightly at her, his cheeks sporting a faint pink tint. "I've missed you so much, Lucy-san!" He said, bright and cheery as he had always been, yet also more polite than the other two. She couldn't help but notice and smile at how his voice seemed to have gotten a little deeper since back when she'd seen him last.

Once again, she was twirled off into the third man's arms. Since he was so tall, she was basically face-to-chest with him. Not that she wasn't used to being the tiny one in the bunch right now, thanks to everyone on Earth growing like weeds.

Either way, the guy had his arm around her and holding her hand with the other one - almost as if they had frozen in the middle of a dance-step.

Looking up, she found it was, of course, the one she had expected it to be. "Ren." She confirmed with herself. She just hoped they were only three and not four…

"You haven't changed at all…" He slowly commented, before looking away. "Not that I really mind…" He trailed off, tsundere as always.

Finally, she was twirled out of his arms as well, and she could breathe a sigh of relief when she didn't land in a fourth one's arms. Ichiya wasn't here.

"We must apologize for the absence of our leader." Hibiki said dramatically, striking some sort of pose. Almost as if he had read her mind.

Lucy shook her head. "No, it's quite fine, no need to apologize." She reassured him. Especially because she didn't really want him there to begin with… She felt kinda guilty for that.

"When he found out Fairy Tail were here, he immediately went to look for Erza-san, so he will be preoccupied for now." Eve chuckled.

She smiled. "I can imagine he will." She agreed. Then she took a short moment to take a look at these guys, who were seven years older than they were when she saw them just a few months ago - or so it seemed to her. Well, forgetting the time they visited the guild when they had just returned.

Ren and Hibiki hadn't changed much - a little change of hairstyle and attire was the first thing you noticed. Though it seemed they'd grown a little broader too since what she remembered. All in all, not a great change in seven years.

Eve had changed a bit more though - he was also a few years younger than his two teammates. He had grown taller, tall enough to be taller than Erza. Only a little lower than Hibiki. His face had also lost a little of that childish look it had had once, and grown to be more 'adult' in a sense. His blonde hair seemed to have gotten a little longer and wavier. Though still the cute one of the bunch.

"So you came to try to get your title back?" Ren asked. He crossed his arms when she nodded in reply. "We won't let you get it back that easily." He promised her.

"We didn't expect it to be easy either." She reassured him. "But we won't be backing down for even a second!" She promised all of them.

"You guys just never change." Hibiki said, clearly amused with her reply.

Eve looked a little worried, though. "You should watch out for Sabertooth though, they won't be going easy on you all." He told her.

She nodded. "Yeah, we know that." She said seriously. They would know Fairy Tail were there to get that title back again. "We've also taken a look at their most prominent mages, the ones suspected of being the ones chosen for their team, just to be on the safe side of things."

This made Hibiki smile almost proudly at her. "Just as expected from you, Lucy!" He said, making a grand gesture with his arms.

She rolled her eyes at the display. "Sure, but it wasn't my idea." She said. It fell on deaf ears though.

While Ren turned Hibiki around, a gesture to show they were going to leave Lucy to her own devices again, Eve turned to her. "Well, good luck with it all, Lucy-san, we're looking forward to working with all of you again, though the circumstances are different." He said with a little bow.

She smiled and waved at the three of them. "Yeah, I am too!" She told them and watched as they disappeared in the crowd, before continuing in the direction she had been going.

Trapped in her own thoughts and deliberations, she soon reached a less populated part of the streets, since there weren't as many shops and boutiques. Instead, there was something she hadn't expected to see in a million years.

With a giant smile and tears almost dripping from her eyes, she laughed. "No way, I can't believe it!" She laughed happily as she saw the basketball court lying there, with a high, magical fence all around, to prevent stray balls from hitting civilians.

She felt a pulse of magic beside her and then a familiar weight around her shoulders. "Well, you better believe it, Princess." Loke grinned, holding an orange ball up in the air. "What do you say we play a little?" He suggested.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Sounds good, I've been wanting to try a few things out recently." She replied.

He laughed as they walked towards the court, making their way inside it. "Yeah, I can imagine Capricorn didn't let you do much of what you wanted, huh?" He asked amusedly.

She nodded, though with a smile. "Well, it's fine. I got much stronger with his help." She told him. Now she could open at least four gold keys' gates simultaneously and use them in battle, so it wasn't for nothing she'd been training these last few months. And now her Second Origin was opened, so she didn't even know her own limits any longer.

"I don't doubt that, Princess." He reassured her. If there was one thing he knew about Capricorn, it was that the goat-man produced results with whatever he was doing. No matter what. Taking their positions on each side of the mid-court, the Spirit looked to his master. "So these things you wanted to test out, they wouldn't be some of your little Miracles' tricks, would they?" He asked her, though he knew the answer.

"Well…" She trailed off, shooting into motion as she tried to steal the ball from him. He easily avoided her by passing the ball to his other hand behind his back though. "Yeah, they are." She confirmed.

More specifically, she wanted to test her own range of shots, due to seeing Midorima shooting like he did. She wanted to see if she could play as sharply as Aomine could, with his intensity and adversity to could score basically anywhere as long as it was within the nearby area of the net. She wanted to work on her defensive capability too, since watching Murasakibara. She even wanted to see if she could do a little misdirection like Kuroko did, just to try. Not so strangely, she also wanted to see if she could do one of those ankle breaks Akashi was so renowned for.

Loke sighed as Lucy pressured him into making an opening which allowed her to take the ball and score at the other end of the court. "Don't be disappointed if you can't do what they can, Princess. They have-" He was cut off before he could finish his sentence though.

"Much more experience with the game. _And_ they're gifted with talent." She said what he had wanted to as she picked the ball up. She turned around and looked at him with a smile. "I know." She reassured him. "There's a reason they're called 'Miracles' you know." She said teasingly and threw the ball to him again.

"Yeah, I know." He said and charged towards her once again. "I do think it's a great idea to brush your skills up though." He told her as he managed to drive past her.

"Oh, really?" She asked, before slipping around and positioning herself defensively between the Lion and the net again. "Why, exactly, do you think that?" She asked him curiously as she prevented him from feinting his way through her defense.

"Because." He said, jumping up quicker than she could react, landing a goal. "I have a suspicion it will be a thing during these Games." He told her.

"Oh?" She asked, actually surprised. But thinking about it, she couldn't deny it. "Yeah, that is actually likely." She agreed.

"I hear from some of the other Spirits that basketball has grown even further in popularity since you got stuck on Tenrou." He said as he blocked one of her shots. "Especially among guilds." He said as she slipped by his defense and shot the ball from the side of the net, landing a goal. "Some even built a court in their backyard." He chuckled.

She looked at him, surprised. "Really?" She asked him incredulously. "Well.. Looks like it wasn't all a bad idea to introduce basketball to Earthland, huh?" She laughed.

Loke remained silent, just watching his blonde master. Something had bothered him for a while and he was going to get his answers. "Are you okay, Lucy?" He asked, using her real name.

The sound of her actual name from his mouth also stopped her in her tracks. He was being serious, but she wasn't sure she understood what it was about. "If I'm okay?" She repeated his question. "Of course I am okay! What a weird question to ask." She said, laughing as she shook her head.

He stopped her when she moved to dribble again, gently taking a hold of her arm. "Lucy, are you really okay with what is happening on Earth right now?" He asked her. He and all the others had been feeling her distress - to put it lightly - the last few times she had been on Earth. True and genuine fear flooded their systems and had it not been for Aries' and Crux' rational thinking, half of them would have jumped out in her defense, right there on the spot.

"Oh…" She said, casting her gaze to the ball she was holding as she realized what he was talking about. "That." She said.

He looked at her worriedly, putting his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "Listen, Lucy, I really want to help you with this, but if you don't tell me what has happened to you these last two days over there, then I have no chance." He told her.

She sighed and nodded. "I know…" She said, realizing how worried they must all have been. They couldn't know if she was being attacked or a building was falling down on her. They could only feel her fear. "You don't have to worry though, it's not like I've been targeted by a band of criminals or anything like that." She reassured him, giving him a little smile.

This visibly made him relax. At least it wasn't anything physically dangerous. "Then what is it?" He asked her. He wasn't going to let her slip away from this one. She was already boiling with all the things she was keeping to herself.

Her smile, as little as it was, dropped again. "It's just… I think Akashi is- No, I _know_ Akashi is suspicious of me." She told him, which made his eyes widen. "And… Well… He's been wanting answers." She said.

"I see…" Loke slowly said, knowing what kind of thoughts were running through his master's head about revealing all of it to them. It all made much more sense now. He pulled the blonde in for a hug and gently rested his chin on top of her head. "Thanks for telling me, Lucy." He said, squeezing her.

She nodded against his chest, leeching from the comfort she got from her Lion Spirit for a moment, before they both pulled away, about to resume the game. "I've been thinking a lot about just telling them." She admitted to him. Might as well just let everything out now.

He nodded. "I think that's a good idea." He agreed with her. "Now that he is suspicious, it probably won't be long before the others are as well, so it would probably help you avoid uncomfortable situations regarding it all." He reasoned.

She nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." She agreed. "And it's about time they know too, they deserve to." She added, certain about that at least. "I just need to find the right time to tell them." She finished.

"To not disturb their games, I presume?" He asked her, almost amusedly. That sentence would for many, many people mean it would be procrastinated as long as possible.

"Yeah." She confirmed. "It's soon going to be the finals: There is just one semi-final match left, then the finals and the third-place match. That's all there's left. I'll tell them when they're over." She promised him.

"Three days, then, huh?" He asked her. "You'd still be in the middle of the Grand Magic Games by then." He said as she speeded right past him while dribbling. "Don't you think you should focus on that first?" He asked her.

She shook her head as he came to a stop right in front of her. "It would just distract me until I tell them, so it's probably better I just get it out." She reasoned with him.

"You'd know that better than I do." He told her as he stole the ball from her hands and raced down the court again. "Just do what's best for you." He said.

She smiled as she came into defense in front of him. "Right now, playing this game is what's best for me. I hadn't even realized how much I have been missing really playing it until now." She told him as she jumped up and blocked his throw.

He smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad I can be of service, Princess." He said. When he looked up again, though, he heard the distinctive sound of the ball hitting the backboard behind him.

"That's great and all, but if you snooze, you lose, you know." She grinned, confirming his suspicion that she had just scored in his moment of distraction.

"Oh? You just did it." He told her, letting his glasses return to the Spirit World in a bulb of light. "It's on, Princess." He said, as he caught the ball thrown at him.

"Bring it, Leo." She responded with a grin as the two blew into a full-out basketball tournament for two. Any and all by-passer who looked at them thought they were crazy or some kind of junkies getting their daily fix. Others just smiled or laughed at their energy and the way they obviously had fun with the game. What with how they laughed out loud and teased each other.

Both of them completely lost sense of time and with Lucy having trained as much as she had, Loke staying in Earthland just barely tingled in her magical reserves, since he didn't really do anything magical other than staying there.

With time though, the tenacious and energetic way they had played in the beginning, slowly dwindled down to something a little more calm and relaxed, yet still as fun as it had been right from the start.

Finally, the two decided to take a break, as they sat down with their backs against the fence, the ball resting neatly between them. Lucy leaned back and looked up into the still quite bright sky, giving her no sense of what the clock was. "Ah, this was really fun." She said. She'd really gotten the feeling she'd warmed her basket-muscles up again, the way they had been before the incident at Tenrou - like she'd never been doing anything else.

Loke nodded, crossing his arms behind his head. "Yeah, it was. We should do this more often." He said. He'd really been having fun with it, and it was apparently an ideal way to get the blonde to voice her concerns.

She nodded and closed her eyes, letting her head drop to his shoulders. "Well, I hope I can find some time to play the next few days after the Games, since I don't have much chance to do it at Earth right now." She told him.

He smiled at her and put and arm around her waist. "I'd love to help you out, Princess." He told her. He was impressed by the blonde. Throughout all of this, she'd been supporting him with more than enough magic and she didn't even seem to be close to tiring out at all. Both training with Gajeel and with Capricorn had really made a difference for her in that aspect, that was for sure. Now he just hoped she could see the same thing as he could.

"Thank you." She said and they both remained quit, just enjoying the calm and break for a while. Until she broke the silence again. "I really hope they can have fun playing with me again…" She said with a low voice. But with almost no one else around, it was clear as day to him.

He let his head fall down in response to her words. "I don't doubt they'd have fun playing with you now, Princess." He said, knowing who she was thinking about without having to think much about it.

She looked up at him curiously, though didn't want to move from the position she was in and had to give up. "How can you know that? I don't even offer a challenge to them any longer." She said, remembering the little she had played with Kise plus his team and Aomine earlier on, comparing it to how she had witnessed them playing now.

He chuckled at her. "I really doubt a challenge is what they're looking for when they decide to play with you, Princess." He told her.

She frowned at this and crossed her arms. "What do you mean with that, Loke?" She asked him. Was he telling her she just wasn't good enough? And never would be?

Knowing what she was thinking, he sighed lightly. "All I'm saying is, that if they wanted a challenge, they could just play against each other." He told her.

She couldn't deny the logic in that. It seemed they were all at least somewhat matched in terms of skills on the court, and then there was Kagami as well.

Loke continued nonetheless. "When they play with you, they have fun because it's you, not because you're challenging to play with." He told her. Then a smirk grew on his face. "Just look at me, I had fun playing with you today despite the obvious gap between us." He teased her.

She giggled at him. "Yeah, that's true. I had fun too, though I was clearly much better than you." She teased back. In reality, none of them had played seriously and they had been somewhat matched in strength. So there wasn't really a gap.

He smiled. "My clear superiority aside, instead of matching them on their home turf, you should get a little more creative." He suggested. "Use what you got from here a little, and I'm sure they'd stand no chance against you, Princess." He told her.

She thought about that. "I never thought of that, actually…" She admitted. She'd been trying to copy them and the way they played at Earth all this time, completely disregarding her own home-land. How they played here was so much more different than you did on Earth. "That's actually a good idea!" She said, jumping to her feet in excitement. "Come one! I want to practice again!" She said excitedly, almost jumping up and down where she stood like a little kid.

With an overbearing laugh, he got up from where he was, taking the ball with him as he went. "All right then." He relented. Who could deny her face anyway?

With a squeal of delight, she jumped her way over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Loke!" She said while he did his best to balance both her and the ball.

"No problem, Princess.." He said as he tried to concentrate on both things, though failing at it. She jumped down from him with a bright smile, which he returned, though not with the same brightness to it.

That was when their heartfelt moment was interrupted. "Hey! Are you two about to play?" They heard a voice ask from outside the court as that parson also seemed to grab the fence all around.

When they turned to look at who it was, both found themselves floored in surprise. The one who had asked was none other than Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth, the white half of the Twin Dragon Slayers team.

He looked exactly as he did on the file they'd looked through in Fairy Tail, with the blonde hair, jutting out in every direction, his blue eyes, the thin diagonal scar above the right one and the white Sabertooth insignia on his bared left shoulder.

Of course, as they'd been told, the two 'twins' rarely left each other's sides, and this was no exception. Standing a little behind the bright, blonde guy was his darker counterpart. Like Sting, he was also exactly as the file told, with his fairly long, black hair, covering both of his ears and one of his crimson red eyes. His insignia was completely covered by layers and even more layers of clothes, but she suspected it to be on his left shoulder as well, where his cloak held the insignia. It seemed to be a Dragon Slayer thing anyway.

"Yeah, we were." She confirmed with a nod, already having a suspicion of what the two were doing here. Loke just remained silent beside her.

Sting's face lit up into a bright smile, much to their surprise. "Cool! Can we play with you? We didn't bring a ball here." He said, his voice cheery and happy.

Weren't they supposed to be trying to scout out Fairy Tail's power? Wasn't that what they were doing? It sure didn't look like it…

"It doesn't seem like they recognize us." Loke commented beside her, just as confused as she was.

Rogue looked at his friend with crossed arms and a frown. "We are supposed to be back before midnight, Sting. We do not have time for this." He admonished the other guy.

If she hadn't seen it for herself, but Sting actually pouted at his teammate. Were they really the feared Twins of Sabertooth? "Come on, Rogue~!" He almost whined. "We can easily play some before going back to the inn!" He said, seemingly just deciding that the Fairy Tail mages agreed to playing with them.

The black haired guy just sighs in defeat. Then he looked at the blonde and the Lion Spirit. "I'm sorry, but would you allow him to play with you for a while?" He asked the both of them politely.

Pushing her surprise in the background at Sting's hopeful expression and Rogue's politeness, she smiled and nodded. "Sure, that won't be a problem." She reassured them, to which Sting pumped a fist in victory. "Aren't you going to be playing, Rogue-san?" She asked, just as politely. For now, she was going to play the civilian these two seemed to think her to be and let Loke be her friend or whatever they thought he was to them.

He shook his head. "No thank you, miss. I prefer to conserve my energy for the Grand Magic Games." He replied.

Loke nodded. "All right then, I'll take a break. You tired me out earlier." He said with a wink, which she rolled her eyes to in response. Aka, he wanted her to gauge where his skill lay, without showing him her own, of course. Which was going to be interesting.

Without hinting towards the rivalry between the two guilds, Loke let Sting in and exited the court, standing outside with Rogue. Who seemed like he was a silent type of person, so there probably wouldn't be much conversation between the two.

A contrast to his teammate. "Thanks for agreeing to play with me, miss." He said brightly, apparently really glad he was allowed to play.

"That's no problem at all. It's an honor to be allowed to play with Sting Eucliffe, the White Dragon of the Twin Dragon Slayers from Sabertooth." She said, one-hundred percent sucking up to the guy, so he wouldn't get suspicious. He kinda seemed like Natsu or Kise either way, he probably wouldn't suspect a thing either way.

He grinned at her, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh, so you know me?" He asked, though not sounding surprised in the slightest. "Well, I guess that can only be expected when you're from the strongest guild." He said matter-of-factly.

She looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes. So he was that kind of person, was he? Seemingly a nice guy, but actually extremely arrogant underneath.

He smiled brightly at her. "So, what's your name, lady?" He asked her friendlily.

Let's see if you're this friendly when you realize what guild I'm from, was all she could think. "I'm Lucy Alteria Shirogane, nice to meet you." She said, returning the bright smile with one of her own. "And please, you don't have to go easy on me, Sting-san." She said.

This actually made him laugh, clearly because he thought she was thinking too much of herself. "Well, I can't deny a pretty girl like you, when you ask me like that, now can I?" He said amusedly, clearly adding 'just remember you asked for it yourself' in his head. Meanwhile she was internally gagging at his 'compliment'. When she moved to pass the ball to him, he shook his head. "No, it's fine. Ladies' first." He said smugly, trying to be a gentleman.

She really wanted to thoroughly show him she was not to be underestimated, especially not when it was about basketball, but she just knew she'd have her chance in the future, and had to take it easy for now. So that's what she did.

Giving him a quick 'thank you' in the most innocent-girlish, sweet way she could - something she had long since perfected - she began playing.

She didn't burst into movement as she normally would, instead she just went along calmly. As she approached, it was clear to see he was underestimating her. He didn't for a second believe she would ever be able to break through his defenses, which, by the way, left everything to be desires. It was a very sloppy defense that he hopefully only used because he thought so little of her.

If there was any time to test that ankle break, now was her golden opportunity. So, speeding up quite some, she approached him, dribbling. When she figured she was close enough, she did a pair of crossovers to disrupt his footing.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. With a sigh, she had to accept that wouldn't work on him this time and instead settled for pirouetting around him easily and landed the ball in the net.

And because of it, he also looked at her with an acknowledging expression, though slightly confusing. "Some strange moves you got there, Luigi, but they work." He complimented her. Or would have, had he not forgotten her name. Just like a certain Fire Dragon Slayer had.

"Strange moves?" She repeated his words. Ah… She was playing Earth-style, not Earthland-style. "Oh, sorry. I was just testing something." She apologized, which wasn't a lie. Though, she shouldn't reveal her trump card just yet.

With that, the two played with Loke and Rogue as their silent spectators on the sidelines. Throughout it all, she played a level of basketball, which was far under her own, but enough to see if Sting could play some.

And it seemed he wasn't entirely useless, he knew how to play basketball. Though he wasn't much of a challenge in comparison to the people she was around on Earth. Even Kuroko could beat these guys in a one-on-one. And his misdirection wasn't worth much when it was just him on the court.

Not only that though, to stroke the blonde's ego - which was already bigger than it should be - she decided she'd elaborately stumble and let him catch her, things like that. So obvious even he knew she did it on purpose. All for her own amusement. Both because she could hear Loke's grumbling and growling, but also because she couldn't wait till she saw his face when he realized who she really was.

Yeah, her demons had probably grown a little more devious over time, she couldn't deny that.

Either way, Sting didn't seem to be anything special - all for the attack and speed, kind of like Natsu, and completely forgetting defense.

But he did claim himself to be the best in his guild at basketball. If that was the case, Sabertooth definitely didn't have a future with basketball, that was for sure. Well, it probably wasn't their main focus either, so it was probably fine.

Finally though, Rogue decided it was about time to intervene. "We are supposed to be back at the inn in thirty minutes, I am afraid we have to leave now." He pointedly told the blonde.

Sting sighed in defeat. "I guess I can't procrastinate it any longer…" He said almost dejectedly. Then he looked down at her, where she stood with the ball in her hands. "You'll be watching us during the Grand Magic Games, right?" He asked her expectantly.

She gave him a big smile, beyond amused with this encounter. "Yeah, of course I will!" Hs reassured him. She'd probably be doing more than just watching, but he didn't need to know that for now. It was only barely she kept herself from laughing out loud.

"Yosh!" He said with a grin that almost split his face apart, reaching from ear to ear. "I'll be seeing you there then, Luigi!"

"No doubt about that." She replied with a lightly smug tone to her voice. "I simply can't wait." She added, feeling all her inner demons laugh with glee inside her.

They all halted and instead shrieked when he actually went ahead and gave her a quick squeeze of a hug, before he ran off with a hand lifted in the air. "Bye!" He called out to a very, very confused and surprised blonde, while not paying any attention to a growling Lion Spirit.

It was only when the two were out of hearing-range even for Dragon Slayers that she burst out laughing. "Oh my god, that was great!" She laughed while Loke whipped his head in her direction.

"All he wanted to do was get you in his bed, Princess. Were all those gestures really necessary to piss me off?" He asked her, a little bit angry it seemed.

She hadn't even slightly laughed off though, but she collected herself and wiped her eyes. "While it was hilarious to see your reactions too, the driving force behind it all was the thought of when he realizes who I really am." She said, not able to hold her laughs back for longer.

"Ahh…" He said, realizing her true intent and couldn't help but chuckle along with her. "It seems my Princess has a mischievous side to her as well." He said amusedly, easily forgiving her for teasing him so during that little practice. "Come on, you should be getting back to the inn as well, Princess. Let me, you loyal knight, escort you back safely." He said and offered his arm to her.

She smiled and easily took it as the ball popped back to where it came from. "Thank you, Loke." She said and let him guide her back to the inn. Here, they could hear the noise of their beloved guild, though only five of them were present in there. With a smile to Loke, he popped back to his own realm with the promise he'd be there to watch Sting's reaction for himself.

As soon as she opened the door and entered, she was ambushed by Happy, who charged right into her. "LUSHIIIIII! Help me! Erza is being scary!" He cried and when Lucy looked up, she saw Erza scolding Natsu and Gray, probably because they'd been in a fight.

She giggled and petted the blue Exceed. "Don't worry Happy, she's not out after your blood." She reassured him.

"Luce! You're back!" Natsu called, ignoring Erza's berating in favor of greeting the blonde. "Where have you been?!" He asked, springing to his feet as Gray face palmed.

"Oh, I've just been playing some basketball with Loke." She told him as Happy flew off to munch on a half-eaten fish, which he had probably been in the middle of before she returned. "I'm sorry, it drew out longer than either of us expected."

"It's not a problem, I'm glad you seem to have had fun." Erza said, giving the blonde one of her precious smiles, while having slammed her sword down through the floor between Gray's legs. Too close for it to be coincidence.

Just as she was about to reply gratefully, Natsu came uncomfortably close and began sniffing her like some dog. This was seriously a breach of her comfort-zone, even if it was him. "Uhh…. Natsu?" She asked him quizzically.

Gray scowled at his teammate, who just continued to sniff his other teammate. "Oi, Ash Brain! What the fuck do you think you're doing, you creeper!" He called out to his rival.

And as expected, that had an effect on the Fire Dragon Slayer. He straightened up and looked at Lucy weirdly, his eyebrows furrowed. "You smell strange, Luce. I don't like this smell." He told her.

A light went off in her head and she internally shook her head at her own idiocy of not seeing this coming. "Yeah, I can imagine. I sort of ran in with the Twins of Sabertooth. It's probably Sting you're smelling." She told him.

Erza hauled the sword up from the floor and slammed it down even closer to Gray's crotch, which literally made the guy shriek in horror. "Did he do anything to you, Lucy? Will I have to avenge your virginity?" She asked her sternly, clearly jumping head-first into conclusions.

Natsu, Gray and Happy all looked at her with matching expressions and she just paused for a moment, letting their question sink in for a moment. Of course, the natural reaction would be to giggle at their conclusion. "Guys, that's really sweet of you, but nothing like that happened." She reassured them.

"Then why's his stench all over you?!" Natsu asked, confused as always.

"I was just playing a little basketball with him, since he'd apparently forgotten to bring a ball, that's all. Calm down now, he didn't even realize I was from Fairy Tail." She said.

Almost before she was finished, she was crushed by Erza's embrace. "I'm so sorry you have to suffer such disgrace. I will make sure it will never happen again!" She promised the blonde confidently.

"Thank you, Erza." She said, though she doubted the redhead could really do much about the whole thing.

Their conversation was halted here, when a loud voice rang from outside the inn. "Welcome to the preliminary event of the Grand Magic Games X791!"

 **Yup, that's it for today! Hope you all liked it!**

 **So this one was much more relaxed in comparison to the last few tense chapters, eh? Kinda cute, if I had to put a word on it myself**

 **Not much to say about anything down here for now, other than there will really only be minor changes in the GMG as it looks now, like a little bit more Spirit-activity in Lucy's battle with Flare or something like that. We'll see ^-^**

 **I promise I will get to replying to all of your reviews within the next few days! I am so ashamed I haven't done it yet, and I'm just about to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu** _ **just**_ **so I can chase myself with torches and pitchforks. ._."**

 **But despite my stupidity, thanks so much for following, favoriting, reviewing and reading! Can't put my appreciation to words!**

 **~Line464d**


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59**

 **Finally got around to proof this… Ah, I took way too long XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: As per usual, Hiro and Tadatoshi are still keeping their works to themselves… Greedy bastards :P**

 **Earth~**

Lucy found herself being awakened in the gentlest of ways, with a soft hand on her shoulder, not even shaking her in the effort to wake her up. "Lucy dear, it's time to wake up." She heard the soft and slightly rusty, female voice she connected to her grandmother cooing her to consciousness.

Entirely enjoying the moment, the blonde just moaned a little to let Hinata know that she was awake. With the way the older woman was gently running her fingers through the girl's blonde locks, Lucy simply couldn't find it in her to sit up and get out of the bed. It was exactly the way her mother had done when she was a child, every single day.

The old lady chuckled and shook her head at the younger girl. "Sweetie, you have to get up." She said, more insistently than before. "Otherwise you'll miss the game." She reminded the blonde.

Said blonde sighed, knowing the other woman was right. Obviously, she didn't have the slightest clue what the clock might be at this point, so the game might as well be starting in five minutes. And it was a quite an important match too.. Rakuzan versus Shutoku. Akashi versus Midorima.

"All right, I'll get up." She replied with a croaky, sleep-filled voice, opening her heavy eyelids. As she had expected, she was in the room, which had once been her own mother's, the one the Shirogane's designated as hers whenever she would need it. She looked up at Hinata and smiled. "Good morning, Hinata." She greeted the other woman, pulling herself up to sit with her back to the backrest, rubbing her left eye.

"Good morning, dear." Hinata smiled back to her granddaughter. "What do you say I make you some breakfast and then drop you off at that stadium?" She suggested kindly.

Lucy looked at the old lady and shook her head. "You don't have to. Really. I can find my way over there by myself, and I had something to eat just a little while ago!" She protested. She couldn't ask all that from her, grandmother or not.

"Nonsense." The elder lady simply replied and got up. "I'm going that way either way, it wouldn't be a problem to just drop you off." She firmly said.

The blonde just gave up and gave the lady a defeated nod. It was a lie. There wasn't anything she'd need in the direction of the stadium, unless she was going to another city. But she also knew it'd be impossible to convince the woman not to do this. She might as well try to turn the sun off.

So, without being left any choice, the blonde got up as well, listening to how her grandmother hurried down the hall in the direction of the kitchen. Meanwhile, she trudged in the opposite direction, towards the bathroom.

Though she was already completely awake, she quickly splashed some water in her face and rearranged her hair properly, brushing her teeth with the extra set her grandparents had bought for her, before heading down to the kitchen as well.

And as she more or less expected, Hinata had cooked up a quick, little breakfast of her, consisting of some delicious-looking, homemade buns with cold cut on top and a glass of juice next to it. So the old lady had listened to what she said; that she'd eaten not long ago. This fit perfectly for her current amount of hunger.

"This looks absolutely delicious!" The blonde said excitedly, already knowing the woman would just brush it off if she tried convincing her it really wasn't necessary once again.

"I hope you'll say the same when you taste it." Said woman replied wistfully, smiling at the blonde and gesturing for her to sit down at the table.

Lucy did as she was told and took her seat, as the elder came around the table with a cup of coffee, gently bringing it to her lips and sipping it despite it still being scalding hot - that was how she liked her coffee.

Somehow, this scene just reminded her of all the times she'd shown up at the Shirogane's in the morning, the scene had often been just like this one. Except… There was one blatantly obvious, unfilled hole, staring straight at her. A hole, which could only be filled by one person. And he wasn't here any longer.

She could almost hear how he would grumble dissatisfiedly at the newspaper whenever he got past something which didn't fit with his opinions. If he didn't do that, usually he would just joke around a little while Hinata scolded him.

But right now, it was entirely silent between the two of them, and the fact that he was missing was just all the more obvious and painful. The silence was like a thick fog that none of them could break through. It both deafened and sealed their mouths shut at the same time.

So, in silence, they finished what was before them, both minds spinning around that one, missing presence. Finally though, Lucy found the courage to speak up, finding the silence all too heavy. "Thanks for the meal, it was delicious." She told her grandmother with a voice so high pitched but low, she could barely recognize it as her own.

As if surprised she wasn't alone, the lady's head and gaze flew up from her empty cup in a jolt of motion. However, when everything seemes to settle back in her mind, she smiled at the blonde. "I'm glad you liked it." She told the blonde. "When is it that game you want to see begins?" She asked.

"Uhh…" Lucy hummed to herself, trying to remember when the other games had been. After all, she knew she'd be there no matter when it was, thanks to her magic. "I think it's around 10 am." She finally said.

Hinata nodded, turning to look at the clock. "That's in an hour, then." She stated thoughtfully. "I believe it would be best if we go now, it's a considerably long drive." She reasoned, got up from her chair and brought her cup to the dishwasher.

The blonde quickly followed suit, picking up her plate and glass and fit them on each of their shelves. With that, both ladies made their way out to the car waiting in the driveway.

When Hinata started the vehicle and began driving, the blonde turned to her. "Thanks for doing this, I really appreciate it." She told the lady. While she still meant what she said about being able to take care of it herself, there was no doubt, that this was the easiest of the solutions available and the cheapest.

The woman shook her head and glanced at the blonde shortly. "There is no need to thank me, dear, I really do like to do this." She reassured the blonde, returning her gaze to the road. "Besides, as I said, I'm going this way either way, so it is quite fine." She repeated once again.

Seeing as the woman repeated it, Lucy had to wonder if she really had to go that way. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, at the peripheral of her vision, she noticed the luggage at the back seats, that she didn't seem to have noticed before.

Frowning in confusion, she turned to her grandmother once again. "Are you going somewhere?" She asked the woman curiously.

HInata smiled, though she didn't take her eyes off the road in front of her. "I am. I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but just didn't seem to have gotten the chance before now." She said, exchanged gazes with the blonde a fraction of a moment, before returning her sight to where it had been. "Since… Since Kozo-chan passed, and maybe even before that, I have been considering doing a little road trip of sorts." She admitted almost shamefully.

Understanding the unspoken thoughts running through the elder lady's mind, she decided not to bring any special attention to it. "Oh? That sounds interesting." She instead replied, urging the woman to continue.

Said woman nodded a little. "Yeah." She agreed with a voice only barely above a whisper in volume. "It's only around Japan, of course." She said matter-of-factly. "To try something new, a breath of fresh air." She slowly added.

Looking forward, Lucy wondered how she was supposed to react to these news. "Well…" She said, trying to give herself some more time to figure out what she was going to say. "It'll probably be good for you." Was what she came up with. Instead of always being cooped up in the silent house, which without a doubt only served to remind the woman of the two people she had lost at this point, it was probably healthy for her to get out and do what she wanted to, letting herself get over the loss a little.

"Yes, I hope so too." Hinata agreed, having considered the same things as the young blonde was at the moment when she came to this decision.

Once again, the two were thrown into silence, Lucy to think a little about these news and Hinata to focus on driving - as they had reached a particularly populated and active area.

And it was only when they reached a place just a little less populated, that the silence between them was broken. "You still have the key to the house, don't you?" Hinata suddenly asked.

With a jolt, having been broken from her trance-like state, Lucy looked to her grandmother, letting the question sink in, before nodding. "Yeah, it's with everyone." She said and affectionately patted her key-pouch, in which the key to the Shirogane's lay next to her Spirits. They'd given it to her long ago, so that she could get in at any time of the day, even if they were not there.

The Shirogane nodded. "Good." She said and turned right, with the Winter Cup building straight ahead. "You don't have to worry about cleaning and such, however the house is, of course, entirely at your disposal if you ever should need it." She told the blonde with a gentle smile as she pulled into the parking lot.

With the car stopped safely, Lucy reached over and hugged her grandmother. "Thank you Hin- Grandma, I wish you a very good trip!" She told the old lady genuinely.

Hinata pushed the blonde back and instead rested her forehead on the girl's, looking straight into her brown orbs with her own, tender ones. "Thank you so much, sweetie. It means the world to hear you say that." She said truthfully. She was almost breaking down in tears already. "Now, go watch that match of yours." She said, patting the young girl's cheef softly.

Lucy smiled at her grandmother again, before exiting the car whist waving at the other woman and thanking her once again, standing still and watching as her car disappeared out of the parking lot.

"Who was that?" She suddenly heard a voice ask behind her.

To anyone witnessing it, they would have swore she leaped a half meter into the air out of the pure shock of the comment from the guy, who had apparently managed to sneak up on her like that.

For Lucy, her heart keept beating eratically at the fright he had given her. "For god's sake, you can't do that to me!" She said, barely able to breathe.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Kise laughed, feeling accomplished since he could scare her so much. "I'm just curious about who that lady was." He tried to defend himself, though it was clear to the both of them he found the situation hilarious.

Taking a deep breath to soothe her rattled nerves. "One second." She said, giving herself the last time she needed to compose herself. "That was Hinata Shirogane, Kozo's wife." She finally explained, her voice quite visibly growing more downcast as she mentioned the name of her lost grandfather.

Realization flashed across Kise's face as he found out who that person was, and what topic they now had a possibility of arriving at. "Oh… I see." He slowly said, not knowing what else to say, in fear of what might be coming to him.

The blonde girl gave a slight smile. "Apparently she's going on a trip for an undecided amount of time…" She said, not entirely sure why she was telling Kise all of this. Maybe she just needed it off her chest before it became too heavy. Maybe she just had too much weight on her shoulders already, and couldn't take any more. "I'm sure it'll be a good experience for her!" She said, cheering herself up a little again.

Seeing her growing a little happier, he smiled in retaliation. "Well, it sounds nice." He said, not having much else to say with the little he knew at this point.

She nodded automatically. "Hope it will be…" She trailed off, before dropping the topic entirely. "So you're here to see who you'll be up against for third, right?" She asked. "I'm sorry for your loss." She quickly added, before he could answer. She felt sort of bad she had hardly even watched the match now that she was facing him, but she just… Had other things plaguing her mind then. Which reminded her, she'd probably have to watch out for that redhead a little…

"Ah, don't worry about it. Even though we lost, it was still an important match." He said, and Lucy smiled. Her original theory seemed to be correct still. "And yeah, that's part of the reason we're all here." He said and turned halfway around to let the other blonde see the rest of his team, who were all huddled together and talking about something a little away. "I wanted to see who Kagamicchi and Kurokocchi are going to have to beat." He said with a grin.

"Oh? So you're cheering for Seirin, huh?" She asked, a little surprised, but then again she wasn't either. It sort of made sense.

"Well, yeah." He admitted. "Those guys beat us, so they better take it all the way." He reasoned with her. She couldn't deny that that was a pretty, fairly, solid argument.

"OI! [RU]CY! KI[SE]!" Hayakawa called from where he stood with his team, all facing the two blondes. "WE'LE [REA]VING NOW!" He yelled and got a backhanded hit in the head from his captain. Probably for being so loud. The very same captain nodded to tell them the guy hadn't been lying.

Without much of a hesitation, the blondes exchanged gazes, before quickly catching up to the team. Lucy smiled around at all of them. "Hi guys! Been a while." She greeted them all.

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again, Lucy." Kobori, the center of Kaijo, greeted her, otherwise usually quite a silent person.

She smiled a little at that. "I'm sorry for you guys' loss yesterday." She said, just to say something, as they began moving towards the building in one big group.

She was really hoping that even if Akashi did happen to pass by, she would just seem like any other person coming to watch the match with a group of friends. It would be unlikely though, as he would recognize the team and Kise too… Well, a girl could hope, right?

Moriyama shook his head. "It was a shame, but we were half a man down and they are an insanely strong team. It couldn't be helped." He said with a shrug, which the others seemed to agree to. "More importantly." He said, looking almost intensely at the blonde girl. "That creep hasn't bothered you since, has he?" He asked.

For a second, she had no clue who he was talking about, but then it dawned on her. "Oh, Haizaki?" She asked, to which she got a nod. She giggled and shook her head. "He's not that bad once he's been put in his place." She reassured him.

"Even if you try to do that, Haizaki will always be a creep, Lucchi. A disgusting one at that, you have to could see that too, don't you?" Kise asked almost pleadingly.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Of course I don't. Jeez, he just has a few cracks here and there." She defended the guy, who didn't seem to be getting much sympathy from these guys. "You have your cracks too." She tried to argue.

"Yeah, but they're not as messed up, creepy or stalkerish as his are." Kise shot back, which made Lucy breathe out a puff of air in irritation.

"Hmm….." Moriyama hummed thoughtfully, bringing attention to himself at the same time. "What if I played your boyfriend?" He suggested, his chin resting between his thumb and index finger while a glittery, pink aura seemed to surround him.

While Lucy was speechless, Kise shook his head and put his arm around her shoulder. "No can do, Moriyamacchi, he doesn't care if the girl has a boyfriend or not." He smirked gleefully.

"Damn…!" The tall, black haired guy muttered, dropping the slightly ridiculous pose.

Deciding it's about time the topic was changed away from herself, she turned to look at Kasamatsu, who was walking at her right. "Say, Kasamatsu, has your communication with girls gotten any better?" She asked him curiously, remembering the talk and her suggestion a few months ago.

The steely-blue eyed captain of Kaijo looked at her with wide eyes while his face got increasingly red with every passing second. When he'd basically turned into a tomato in color, he only managed to splutter, rather than speak, which made Moriyama, Kobori and Kise break out laughing.

"Nah, [it's] onry g[ott]en wol[se] [si]nce back [then]!" Hayakawa said excitedly and with a big grin on his face as all the Kaijo players looked at their captain with nothing but amusement in their eyes.

"Huh?" Lucy asked, looking to the poor guy, who only seemed to be spluttering even worse at Hayakawa's words, worriedly. "How could that be?" She asked, confused.

Moriyama only smiled widely - like the rest of them. "Well, if I had to say anything, it seems it was just a little _too_ effective." He said, having way too much fun with whatever he was hinting at.

Kasamatsu, of course, seemed to get it and immediately sprang across the distance between them, looking into the taller guy's eyes intensely, since he seemed to be unable to speak, and holding a hand over his mouth to silence him. Moriyama only laughed right into that fiery-red hand - because now it wasn't just Kasamatsu's face and neck, which was red, it seemed to have magically spread to everywhere.

"… Are they okay?" Lucy slowly asked. She was used to seeing these kinds of interactions, sure, but not from those two.

"Yeah, that's normal for them." Kise reassured her, put a hand on her back, and gently began pushing her in the direction of the Winter Cup building, while the other two were still fighting off to the side. "Come on, they'll catch up to us when they're finished out here." He reassured her as the remaining four made their way inside.

Since they weren't exactly early, the stadium was pretty much already filled with people. However, much to their luck, there were actually exactly six empty seats on one of the best rows. How that was possible, none of them knew. Neither did they care.

They seated themselves, with Lucy sitting at the edge next to Kise, pretty close to the stairs too, which was awesome, so they had a chance of getting up and out before they got caught in the sea of people in here, when he game was over.

It didn't take long, before a pissed-looking Kasamatsu followed by an amused-looking Moriyama entered and took the two remaining, vacant seats, more or less right as the two teams were introduced.

"Here they come!" The godforsaken commentator yelled as the orange team entered the court. "Among the Tokyo representatives that's been overthrown by the rookies, Tōō and Seirin, it is the only school that did not lose its throne. The Veteran who's been competing for 11 years straight with its unwaying, immortal spirit that rings true to its name:" He held a dramatic pause. "Legendary King! Shutoku High School!" He yelled as they all collected around their benches.

Of course, only a fraction of time went before the next team also entered the stage.

"And… Here comes the no.1 high school…!" He said even more dramatically as the white clad team entered the view of the crowd. "The school that has been playing in every Winter Cup ever since its founding tournament. Its championships are unmatched." Yet another dramatic pause. "The oldest and the strongest king. Emperor of Creation. Rakuzan High School!" He said, putting more emphasis on the words with every sentence.

Moriyama leaned back in his seat and rested his arms behind his head. "Let the show begin."

Meanwhile, Hayakawa was watching intently as Rakuzan freely displayed their peculiarities and how they acted quite normal while warming up a little. "WHAT?! [The]y'le nol[mar]?!" He said, clearly shocked.

"Don't underestimate them, Hayakawa. They are not normal." Kasamatsu disagreed firmly. "Number four down there, the redhead, he's a first year who just joined the team." He said. Thinking back, she remembered Momoi telling her the captain of the team always wore number four, which was confirmed just now, seeing as Akashi, of course, was wearing number four. "No matter how incredible he is, that's completely unheard of." He said, looking down at said redhead.

Lucy cast her gaze down on the court with the rest. She'd thought the same thing when she found out back then, though, of course, she wasn't entirely sure about it back then.

"Not only that though, the really weird thing about it all is that you don't see the slightest bit of discontent from the bench or anyone else on the team." He pointed out, watching how someone who was probably going to be benched the entire match brought Akashi his towel. "I mean, sure, he's talented and all, but I doubt any upperclassman would be completely fine with surrendering his position to a 1st year." He reasoned.

Moriyama nodded. "Yeah, and those other three guys, they're the 'Uncrowned Kings', they're no pushovers and each of them probably has a strong sense of pride." He added.

"What?" Lucy asked, though no one heard. How had she not found this out before now? Of course, she knew exactly who he was talking about: Mibuchi, Hayama and Nebuya. She didn't get that same feeling from Mayuzumi.

"Exactly." Kasamatsu agreed. "Every single one of the is accepting it without question. The abnormality should be clear to anyone who is just slightly familiar with the situation." He said, leaning back. "You can't call anyone who can lead people so naturally 'normal'." He finally said.

Silently in her mind, she couldn't help but think none of the Miracles seemed to be 'normal', if they were to be compared to what seemed to be 'normal' around here.

She looked up at Kise. "Who do you think will win, Ry- Kise?" She asked, quickly correcting herself before she jumped back into old habits.

Kise looked weirdly at her - and the closest Kaijo members did too, though more discreetely - having gotten used to his nickname long ago. "'Kise'?" He asked her, putting emphasis on his own name to show his confusion.

That was when Lucy remembered it was only Midorima she had talked with about this so far, so contrary to popular belief, of course the rest of them didn't know what they'd talked about back then. "Ah… It's just because it was brough to my attention that those nicknames might not be as fitting as they once were, so…" She trailed off.

"Oh.." Kise muttered thoughtfully. "Right, well, if you're not going ot be using the nickname, at least use my first." He said as his face morphed into a wide grin and he placed a hand on top of her head, lightly roughing her hair up. "We're at least close enough for that by now!" He said.

Lucy smiled up at him brightly, happy that he'd let her and thought they were that close. "Thank you, Ryota!" She said energetically.

He just smiled in reply. "As for your earlier question about who'll win, I'm not sure…." He trailed off a little. "Well… Akacchi never lost in their Shogi battles." He mused, seemingly to himself. "I just really can't imagine Akacchi losing." He finally admitted.

Right as he said that, the two Miracles seemed to have a similar conversation down there, on the court, their expressions taken into consideration.

"I don't know if you've seen much of it yet, Lucy…" He said as Akashi's expression changed into something she hadn't seen from him before… It was almost maniacal. "But Akacchi has… Changed a lot. He probably hasn't shown you all of it, but he's… Become kind of… twisted." Kise slowly told her, looking at her from the corner of his eye, to see her reaction.

Her eyelids dropped a little and her face softened a little. "Yeah… I think you're right about that." She agreed hesitantly.

The expression right then, it was stuck at the front of her mind. How his eyes had widened and his pupils seemed to have gotten smaller, completely void of any light. How his face seemed to be completely covered in shadows and how some semblance of a smile stretched across his face. She just couldn't get it away even as each team lined up in front of each other.

"Yeah… It's just so you won't be too surprised if that side shows up during this match." He said. He clearly had a feeling, that that much darker and more twisted side of his former captain would be showing in this match. He really didn't have much doubt about it, because of who he was up against.

Finally the buzzer sounded, and the match was announced its beginning. Starting with the tipoff, Shutoku immediately got it and sent it right back into Takao's hands. Just when it seemed like he would be charging right forward, suddenly he sent the ball right back and into Midorima's hands.

This way, though it was right behind the midcourt line, Midorima scored the first goal of the match with little to no effort, not giving the opposing team the slightest hint of a chance.

"Well, someone's giving it their all right from the beginning." Moriyama commented, as Rakuzan went back to start the game up again.

Just as easily as Shutoku had, Rakuzan scored those points right back, letting Shutoku know they had absolutely no intention of losing this match.

In retaliation to that, Shutoku continued to send the ball to Midorima, who proceeded to score three pointers for them, using screens to keep the defense away to give him free reign.

Likewise, Rakuzan was answering ever single goal Shutoku was giving. Takao was the one who'd drawn the short end and was set to marking Akashi. For now, the redhead hadn't done anything, other than displaying a wide field of vision and analyzation speed in a pressured situation, as well as the natural speed that came with his smaller frame.

This meant that the first quarter ended with an equal score of 16-16. "And that's it for the first quarter." The commentator immediately said as the end of that first quarter was announced. "The King and the Emperor are equally matched!"

"What's [with] th[is] car[m] back-[and]-folth b tre?!" Hayakawa asked loudly, not ashamed to show his eagerness for an action-packed match.

"It's very high-levelled though." Moriyama shot in. And he was right about that. But given the two schools and their array of players, that wasn't too surprising.

"Yeah, but…" Kasamatsu trailed off, looking to Kise. "Kise, what the hell is that guy really playing at? Surely this isn't the extent of your previous captain's skill." He asked the ace.

Kise scratched his chin and chuckled. "No, not at all." He said, then looked back at the person they were talking about, where he was sitting with the team and talking with their coach. "The thing is, to him, matches have become a lot like shougi, so all he's doing right now is scourting the area, figuring out how much he will need to contribute and what kind of plays they could use." He said, recognizing the style of play from earlier days, though it was much more important now than back then. The matches were simply that much harder.

Lucy frowned at that. "Isn't it a little risky to just 'scout' for a whole quarter?" She asked her fellow blonde.

He nodded. "Yeah, it is." He said as the players were called out on the court again. "But the thing is, he knows this will rile Midorimacchi up, 'cause he'll think Akacchi's is looking down on them, while in reality, he's probably more cautious than he's ever been." He explained.

"Roo[ks] to me [rike] he do[esn]'t eve[n] thi[nk] he'rr n[eed] to [do] any[thi]ng…" Hayakawa said, judging from the way Akashi was eyeing Midorima while they exchanged a few words. Kise just remained silent, not answering as he kept his eyes on the match underneath them.

Now she'd gotten a little used to it, understanding Hayakawa wasn't as much of a problem as she'd initially thought it'd be. You just had to warm up to it a little.

Either way, the match restarted, with Shutoku holding the ball. Unfortunately, as they had probably expected, it was first now Rakuzan made their first move in the effort of winning over Shutoku, this move being a doubleteam on Midorima, consisting of Mibuchi and Mayuzumi.

But, seeing as Shutoku had seen it coming, the ball was passed to the vice captain, who, with an explosive dribble, drove right past Hayama, which got Nebuya irritated, and was then passed right under him to Shutoku's center, who proceeded to make a powerful dunk.

While the commentator gushed over the fact that Shutoku had more valuable players than Midorima, first Mibuchi, then Akashi scolded Hayama for not taking the match seriously. Especially the last person seemed to have an effect on the guy, as when they were in the attack again and he received the ball, his eyes were practically glittering with determination.

Probably the determination to get revenge on the one who'd gotten him on the receiving end of those scoldings.

And alas, he paid back with a dribble of his own. Of course, this wasn't a normal dribble. He was standing almost completely straight, with no signs showing any intention to move forward. So with that almost calm posture, somehow the guy procured a dribble so powerful, the sound of the ball hitting the floor reverberated throughout the entire hall, even making half the crowd put their hands to their ears. Lucy even managed to see how the ball was almost flattened out as it hit the floor in a way a basketball shouldn't be able to.

"What [the] Herr!" Hayama yelled, putting his hands to his ears at the painfully loud sound of the ball hitting the floor. It was impossible to even follow the ball with your eyes, until it bouced off the floor again.

However, as if the loud sound and the speed of the dribble didn't distract the Shutoku player enough, suddenly Hayama burst into a crossover dribble faster than anything anyone on the court had ever seen before, granting the blonde guy easy passage to the net.

However, somehow the Shutoku center had managed to get his bearing, even though the dribble had been as surprising as it was. It didn't seem to throw Hayama much off course though, as he managed to angle his throw differently. So instead of going for a dunk, he approached the goal a little crookedly and almost threw it over his shoulder, making good use of the backboard.

"He made it! He passed through two of Shutoku's defense!" The commentator gushed. He'd also said something about how Hayama's dribble was spectacular earlier, but at this point Lucy had managed to create a filter for herself, which just blocked that commentator out.

As the second quarter continued to play out, it became increasingly obvious Shutoku were only hanging on by a thread with the nametag 'Midorima' hanging on it. Hayama continued with his insane dribbles and either scored himself or passedit on to especially Nebuya, who then finished it. In general, Shutoku's power level just wasn't even close to Rakuzan's.

And to top it off, Akashi hadn't even done anything yet, he stiill had all his tricks up his sleeve.

As it seemed right now, Shutoku looked to be completely outmatched. And Mibuchi was thinking the same thing, though he was also voicing it to Midorima, gesturing towards the guy who was doing everything he could against Hayama, but was clearly getting exhausted.

While Takao was trying to see what he could do to somehow get the ball to the goal, Akashi struck out and took the ball right out of his hands. With this, Rakuzan created a counter, with Hayama and the one who'd marked him running after the ball. As expected, Hayama plowed right through him and delivered the ball to the net.

Or, well… He would have, had Midorima not caught up to him and pushed the ball out of his hands right in the nick of time.

Now Shutoku had the ball again, it was immediately sent to Midorima, who proved to Mibuchi just how useful his teammates really were, as the center created a screen for the green haired guy to drive right past. Continuing on, Nebuya immediately came in on the defense.

Unaffected, Midorima passed the ball right on to the guy, who Hayama had relentlessly plowed right through quite a few times now, who then proceeded to dunk the ball in.

Almost as if it was a symbol of hope, the orange team revived a little and managed to once again catch up to Rakuzan, now equaling the score to 39-39 right as the buzzer sounded, announcing the end og the second quarter.

Lucy glanced down at the retreating back of Akashi, who was returning to his bench with his team. Why hadn't he shown his true capability yet? Did he really not think it would be needed for him to show what tricks he had up his sleeves? When she saw him turning around, she quickly averted her gaze, as to not make herself stand out any further.

"Damn this match is close…" Moriyama commented from the corner he was sitting in, sinking a little into his seat. "This is ridiculous. And we're supposed to play one of these monsters…" He said defeatedly.

"I'm sorry I can't be there, guys…" Kise muttered dejectedly, glaring at his one leg.

Lucy frowned. So his leg hadn't healed enough for him to could participate in the upcoming match for the third place? Well, it was a very tough match, his leg was clearly overworked even back then, so she didn't doubt it was the best solution, if they wanted him for another year.

"It doesn't matter. We're going to play our best." Kasamatsu said certainly. "And if we happen to lose, I expect you to avenge us next year." He told them sternly. It was more of an order than a suggestion. He quite literally expected these guys to avenge them.

Lucy smiled as she saw the nods and agreeing smiles from the guys around her, Kise included, and at how the relationship between Kise and his teammates had changed from 'team' and 'ace' to something closer to being friends. Even in the short span of time she'd known them all, their relstionship had changed at least a little bit.

She could only hope the same thing counted for the other teams as well.

As she thought this, her gaze automatically turned down and to the court, only to find Akashi not being there with his team, who were talking to Eiji about the second half, she imagined. While she knew Akashi could be a bit of a lone wolf, she doubted he would in a situation such as this. Unless he had a good reason to.

So, making a quick decision, she tapped Kise on the arm, getting his attention. "I'll be back in a little while. Lady-stuff." She excused herself, knowing the blonde's unwillingness to hear any about that specific topic. That was generally a guy thing. As expected, he just gave a nod and an expression which said 'no need for details, I already know too much'.

With that, she made her easy escape and walked a little faster than normal, though without being suspicious. If anything, he probably just thought she really needed to go.

"Lucy Heartfilia." She heard a voice, which sent shivers up and down her spine, state. Exactly the person she didn't want to see.

 **All rigth! Nice and finished! Sorry for the roundabout way of doing things this time around, guys!  
Anyway, hope you liked it so far! **

**Thanks to everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed! Love ya!**

 **~Line464d**


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60**

 **Since I have a bad habit of doing things last-minute, this hasn't been proofread. Not that I think you're surprised by this any longer… XD**

 **Enough about that though... WE HAVE REACHED 500 REVIEWS EXACTLY! Thanks a billion guys, unless I made countless fake accounts and reviewed to my own story, this would have been impossible! Thanks so much for your support and loyalty, and especially to , who has been giving me wonderful, long reviews more or less every chapter and now scored the 500th seat! Love ya~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: I'm sorry, but no, I don't own either Fairy Tail **_**or**_ **Kuroko no Basuke :/**

"Lucy Heartfilia." She heard a voice, which sent shivers up and down her spine, state.

And looking up, she found that it was indeed the person she had hoped to escape from. The worst part about this situation? If they wanted to it was no problem for the Kaijo boys to hear their entire conversation.

Obviously, he knew that too. So, with slightly narrowed eyes, he leaned in closer. "You somehow managed to escape yesterday, however I will not let you do the same today." He warned her, and for once she knew that she had no chance of escaping today and most definitely not as it was right now.

She looked at him with a slightly pained expression, really not appreciating her current predicament. "Can't we do this somewhere else?" She almost - and only almost - pleaded with him. She could already feel Kaijo's gazes burning into her back, and she could see Akashi had noticed it too.

"If you insist, we can take this elsewhere." He told her, gently - despite his demeanor - taking a hold of her elbow and tried gesturing her in the direction of the staricase she had been headed towards before, the one he had magically appeared out from.

She still really, really didn't want to do it now. She'd had no time to mentally prepare herself to lay everything out with all the worries she had concerning it, and it'd most likely be difficult to do before the Winter Cup was over, seeing as they probably wouldn't be as busy then.

She quickly just dished out whatever came into her mind. "But you're in the middle of a game, Akashi, we can't do this now." She reasoned with him. To put it lightly, telling him would take much longer than five minutes.

With that he actually glared at her and took a painfully hard grip on her arm. "I do not care if I am in the middle of a worthless match, you are going to tell me everything that you are hiding from me right now." He told her, anger boiling behind his outwardly calm voice.

Right as she was going to surrender and just let him pull her with him, and then convince him it was impossible somewhere more secluded, Akashi was forcefully pushed back by none other than Kasamatsu, who had apparently gotten enough of the scene.

While she, confused and shocked at what the Kaijo captain had just done, could only watch his back speechlessly, she knew he was glaring at the redhead. "I don't care what kind of hotshot you think you are, but I've gotten enough of this. Get the hint, she doesn't want to talk to you." He firmly told Akashi, having placed himself as a wall between her and the redhead.

Lucy, seeing how Akashi's expression got angrier than she had ever seen it be before, quickly grabbed Kasamatsu's wrist and tried pulling him back and away from the redhead. "Kasamatsu, you don't-" She was cut off, before she'd even got an opportunity to stop the guy.

Akashi stared straight up and into the other, older captain's eyes. "While I acknowledge your ability as a captain, let me give you a warning." He said threateningly, putting a hand up on the other guy's shoulder. "The only ones who are allowed to look me in the eye as I speak are those that serve me. Those who butt their heads into things they do not understand, are not allowed to look down on me."

With those words, somehow the taller guy fell down on his butt, almost as if Akashi had performed an ankle break on him. He hadn't put any strength into the hand on Kasamatsu's shoulder, so she really had no idea how he'd made the other guy fall as if he'd wanted to fall himself.

"Know your place." Was what he told him, from the corner of his eyes, now being the one superior in height and able to look down on Kasamatsu.

Finally, Lucy broke out of her little bubble, everyone around them completely stunned with the scene before them. "What the hell, Akashi?!" She said, attracted to the idea of giving him a cold, hard slap, but resisting the temptation and instead balled her hands up into fists by her sides. "This is between you and me! Don't bring others into it!" She told him, now angry.

He looked at her with those cold eyes of his. "I did not bring him into this, he brought this on himself." He countered.

"I don't care!" She said and in a move of frustration of having so many onlookers, grabbed onto his arm and forcefully pulled him after her. "If you really want to talk, then we're going to do just that!" Akashi didn't resist the slightest and just let her pull him towards the stairs he had just come from.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the team had all gone over to get their shocked captain up from the floor just as she turned the corner and continued pulling the redhead after her down the stairs. Reaching the base of them, she turned just one other corner, before she released and whirled around to face him.

She glared venomously at him, her arms crossed. "Why did you do that?" She asked him directly. As was the way of Fairy Tail, she didn't care what he chose to do with her - even if it was chasing her to the ends of the world - but hurting others because of her… That made her boil on the inside.

He looked at her with a delicately raised eyebrow. "I thought that was quite clear." He said patronizingly. "He did not know his place." He said, his tone cold and matter-of-factly.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the implication of his words. It seemed Kise was right, she was finally being shown this dangerous, cold, psychotic twist of himself. A personality created from the fact that he never lost and the arrogant nature which naturally came with his upbringing, the pressure he had been under for what she imagined was most of his life.

That didn't excuse that mean and sadistic way of treating other people. Herself, the Miracles or anyone else, it didn't matter, it was inexcusable. Even if it was a split personality and a more kind, subdued version of Akashi lay dormant underneath.

He could still be forgiven from the people he had mistreated, but it would take some work from his side. Some work that he, in his current condition, wouldn't be doing.

"At any rate." He said, reminding her once again that she was not alone. "Unnecessarily explaining myself is not the reason I let you pull me down those stairs. I want some answers." He firmly stated.

She looked into his eyes for a long moment, before sighing and uncrossing her arms. "… Right." She said, out of options. "You're right." She admitted.

He hummed in agreement, letting her know he already knew that, but without voicing it directly. "So you are admitting to your lies?" He asked her.

He really wasn't about to beat around the bush. "Well, I'd rather call it-" She stopped herself, seeing his expression. "Yeah, I lied to you and the others…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry…"

She more felt than witnessed how the redhead looked her up from down. "You could have avoided this situation, had you told the truth from the beginning." He told her.

She looked up at him again, her anger flaring momentarily inside her. "It's not that simple, Akashi." She told him, not able to keep her irritation with him not understanding her, out of her voice. "If I could have done that, then I would!" She shot back, her voice rising out of her will.

"I am having a hard time believing that." He told her, his arms crossed in front of him. "However, if you tell me now, I might reconsider that notion of yours." He said.

Lucy couldn't help the furrowing of her brows. "There are several reasons for me not telling you right now." She told him, and quickly continued when he opened his mouth to - probably - protest. "Among those, the strongest are the fact that two minutes simply won't be enough, that you're in the middle of an important match, and that it is not something I just talk about without some kind of preparation." She explained.

"Preparation?" He asked, as if he didn't understand what the word meant.

"Yes, preparation." She repeated. "I will need some time to prepare myself to tell you about all of this. You can understand that, can't you?" She asked him.

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "It seems those are terms I cannot disagree with." He concluded. "Alas you will tell me everything after my match is over." He decided and immediately began walking back in the direction of his team, closing the discussion of the topic.

"No."

He stopped his progression forward and looked back over his shoulder at her with one yellow eye, narrowed in irritation. "What?"

Lucy was looking at him with a fierce set of brown eyes, intent on defying his decision. "I said no." She repeated. "I will not do that." She clarified when he didn't say anything.

Turning around halfway, so he could look at her with both of his dangerously angry eyes. "Why is it you keep disobeying me?" He asked her, getting annoyed with her behavior.

"I thought it would be quite clear even to someone like you that this is an incredibly sore topic for me." She said with an almost condescending tone. When he just remained silent, she took it as an open invitation to continue. "I am not going to be explaining this whole thing six different times, Akashi." She said, leading him towards figuring the answer out for himself.

"So what you are tellling me is that you want the entire Generation of Miracles gathered together when you explain yourself?" He asked for unneeded clarification. He did not have much doubt in his mind that he was right.

She nodded. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm telling you." She confirmed.

He looked at her for a very long moment, letting her know exactly _how_ much he disliked that idea. "Take my patience as a payment for whatever I may owe you." He finalized and abruptly continued his treck back, turning his back to the blonde.

As she seemed to have done many times as of late, she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. It was official now, she had to tell them all soon… She should probably go find Nijimura once this match was over and ask for his help with it all. Hopefully she'd get it…

She should probably also let them all know that she was going to call them all together sometime soon, so it wasn't just Nijimura and Akashi, who knew what she was planning. Starting with Kise.

She slowly made her way up the stairs again, their conversation and all that had just happened weighing heavily on her mind and showing on the solemn expression she knew she was wearing.

In general she found that ever since those damn trials, she just hadn't been smiling so much. It had completely turned her life upside-down, both here and in her own world. Except in her own world, she wasn't alone with that feeling. What one member from Fairy Tail felt, they all shared, no matter if it was pain or happiness. It was hard, but it wasn't as hard settling back into things there. Most of all, she had her team backing her up all the way, nothing had changed between the five of them there.

Things were so different here. She didn't truly have that backup from anyone here. Despite the fact that she knew both Nijimura and her grandmother were doing their best, trying to be her 'team' here on Earth, it just wasn't the same. She didn't have anyone here, who didn't change on her. Her grandmother and Nijimura _had_ changed. But most of all the boys had changed.

Contrary to when she just came back here, she now knew that that was an irreversible fact. She now knew that going back to how things once were was impossible. Each had their own, new team, they had stepped into a new arc of their lives and she really wasn't keeping up with all of them.

It was like she was still sort of living back in the days when they were young while they continued onwards.

Breaking herself out of the depressing inner picture she had made, she quickly shook her head, realizing she had reached the last few stairs. That was all just her imagination going into overdrive. It was nothing like that… Probably.

She should stop thinking right now, nothing positive would come out of it as it was.

Finally, she emerged on the other end of those stairs, looking back over her shoulder and immediately met the concerned, caramel eyes belonging to her fellow blonde. She sent him a quick smile and made her way up to the row of seats they had occupied.

By then she had caught the attention of everyone she knew there, as she had expected. Before sitting down, she looked to Kasamatsu apologetically. "I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this too, Kasamatsu." She apologized and bowed her head lightly to him.

"Stop it." Was all she got.

Which, of course, made her look up, confused. "What?"

His expression was hard, but not in a bad way, just a determined one. "It isn't something you should be apologizing for." He told her.

She knew it wasn't technically her, who should be apologizing here, but Akashi. But there was no chance of the redhead doing that, he truly believed his action had been justified, she could see it in his eyes.

"Bu-"

"Besides, it was my own fault." He said, leaning forward in his seat with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together. "I was the one, who jumped into the crossfire of my own will." He shot back at her, clearly closing the discussion. She couldn't disagree with that.

With a light smile, she nodded. "Right… Thank you though." She said and sat down without seeing the new color the guy's cheeks had suddenly gotten.

While she considered how she should tell Kise, she didn't notice how the very same guy was keeping an eye on her, wondering if she was going to say anything. His patience was short though and instead he decided to be the first one to talk instead. "Are you all right?" Was the first think he asked. Having a conversation with Akashi when he had the expression he'd had was never very fun.

She looked up at him with a jolt, then quickly nodded. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." She reassured him.

He furrowed his eyebrows at that. He really had a hard time believing she was completely fine from whatever she'd been doing with Akashi.

Of course, she also saw the disbelieving expression of his, and just shook her head. "Really, nothing happened. We just talked." She explained.

"Then… What did you talk about?" He asked, not sure if it was all right for him to know. Judging from the snippet he'd heard before she dragged his former captain down the stairs, it didn't seem like something just between them. In the sense that it was something which affected him and the other Miracles as well. Maybe even more people.

She smiled faintly. "We didn't as much talk about it as we agreed to talk about it later…" She half mumbled, but the blonde guy caught it easily. She looked up at him. "Mostly because it is something you all should know, not just him…" She slowly said.

Kise remained silent. So it was as he had expected, something that had to do with the Miracles and Kuroko. He just had to wonder what it could be all about…

"I'll figure something out, I promise." She said, breaking him away from his thoughts before he could be consumed in them too far. "It will probably first be after this cup has ended though." She told him almost apologetically.

He mustered up a smile through his concern and took her hand to get her attention. "It'll be fine as long as you tell us." He tried to comfort her, despite having absolutely no clue what it was all about.

She smiled, and nodded, but didn't say anything. She feared that if she used her voice, it would betray her, reveal her uncertainty in the idea that everything would be fine even after she told them about everything.

Nonetheless, their conversation couldn't progress further, as the commentator announced for the game to begin again. "Third quarter, second half is beginning!" He yelled and all Lucy could think about was how those were probably the longest ten minutes of her life.

Like her, Kise also remained silent, letting the conversation end there, and both just watched how Akashi marking Midorima would work out. It seemed Rakuzan completely abandoned the idea of doubleteaming Midorima and instead just let Akashi take care of it. It was probably Akashi own idea either way. The most interesting part of it all was that Midorima looked like he had completely expected that move.

Abruptly, Midorima started the second half out with immediately jumping up in the hopes he could use his height to gain an advantage over the much lower opponent. However impossibly fast, Akashi stole the ball from Midorima's hands, letting the guy continue going upwards in his 3-point posture without the ball. The only way he could have gotten that was if he intercepted that before Midorima had even jumped.

That must have been what Midorima had referred to about the Emperor Eye of Akashi's the day before. With that eye, Akashi supposedly should be able to read the future. Unless he was from Earthland just like she was or had some magic in him, she doubted that was possible, instead it was probably more something like he was reading the other person. Those eyes probably helped him deduce what a person would do, just from observing how the muscles and likewise moved, before the person actually did anything. That, in turn, probably made it look like he was reading the future, when in reality he was just reading the other person.

It was so like his current self too. Reading people, making them believe he had almost godly power. It fit his personality perfectly.

It was probably also this enhanced ability to read people which helped the smaller redhead do those ankle breaks, like the one he used on Takao just now, who had tried to stop the counter the Rakuzan captain had attempted.

"'No one that oposes me is allowed to look down on me.'" She mumbled, reading Akashi's lips, something she had taught herself and practiced when she was bored at the guild. Really, it was something her father always had told her would be useful, but hadn't taken it further than that for some reason.

Kise nodded, both keeping their eyes trained on the court. "Yeah, he usually says that and-"

"Know your place." Akashi's words rang clearly in the hall for everyone to hear as he scored a goal right where he had just used the ankle break on Takao, who was now sitting down on the floor.

"Yup, and that." Kise said, grinning a little at Akashi's perfect timing. "He usually says that whenever he performs an ankle break on someone, always if it is the first of the match." He explained. "Or whenever he feels like the opponent doesn't know who's the superior one." He said, his voice lower.

She nodded. The last one fit quite well on the situation with Kasamatsu earlier. And he had also used similar words then. "I see." She said as she rolled it over in her mind. "So basically, he's making a word-pun and joking with the fact that he is physically smaller than everyone else, and therefore it's impossible for them to _not_ look down on him literally, so he uses the ankle break to reverse the situation both in the literal sense and the metaphorical?" She asked herself more than anyone else.

The blonde guy looked at her with a surprised expression. "I've… Never thought of it that way before…" He admitted. He'd always just thought about it in the way it first came to mind: that someone was underestimating his abilities either because of his age or height and as such had to be shown he was not just someone you can ignore. Lucy's interpretation was way more interesting. "Wait… More importantly…" He said, making her glance at him. "Are you trying to tell me Akashi actually has humor in him?!" He asked, clearly shocked to the core.

The blonde girl giggled. "No, I probably wouldn't go that far." She replied. "It's just a play on words, nothing more." She reassured him, seeing him actually calm his beating heart down, finding it immensely funny how much that had affected him.

The third quarter continued, and as they reached the end of it and a little into the fourth as well, Shutoku were in a serious pinch again. Only this time they had small chances of getting out of. Catching up to someone 14 points ahead of you when only a half quarter was left was nearly impossible.

The last 7-8 minutes, Akashi had given Shutoku a little appetizer of what he could do. He took every single shot Midorima tried, before he even did it. He easily danced right around a screen, as if it hadn't even been there. His defense was so solid Midorima couldn't even pass the ball without Akashi stealing it from him.

Likewise, when on the offense - which was hardly anything but counters - he easily made a path for himself through using his ankle breaks mainly. Often also adding something along the lines of what he said earlier, or that one time he'd told the two who tried to defend to get out of the way. When they didn't, he used his ankle break on both of them and claimed that his orders were 'absolute'.

And he believed it whole-heartedly.

But it wasn't all about Akashi. He had Nebuya there to score the ball during his counters, in case someone jumped up and made it impossible for him, so he could easily pass it to his own center. Mibuchi was also quick on the defense, when someone - more specifically Takao - decided to take things in his own hands and go for a score. Likewise Hayama was also at the ready with his ridiculous dribbles.

All in all an incredibly strong team.

"A 20 point gap?! Is this is it?!" The commentator screamed into the microphone. "This is Rakuzan… This is Akashi's true strength…. They're so strong!" He gushed, reminding her that though she was caught in her thoughts, life and the game still moved on.

As the situation was right now, it seemed Akashi had crushed a last remnant of what was left of Midorima's spirit with yet another showcasing of his trademark move. Of course, his team qucikly came to remind him that Shutoku didn't give up so easily, and as such reawakened his spirit as if they were acting in some kid's movie.

It did seem to rile Midorima up to the point of wanting to try something out, if she got his expression right. And surely, though he didn't have the ball in his hands, suddenly Midorima began doing the movements of his shoooting position.

And as he jumped up, Lucy knew exactly what the green haired guy was planning. "That's impossible…" She muttered when suddenly, impossibly but not unexpectedly, Takao actually landed the ball in Midorima's hands, just as he reached the peak of his jump. Akashi had made no move to defend. Thus Akashi gave Midorima all the time and space in the world to make his infamous shot.

"HORY [CL]AP!" Hayakawa yelled in excitement. "[Th]at's im[pos]sibre!" He continued, pointing a finger at Midorima as if he was a symbol of blasphemy.

"That's incredible…" Moriyama agreed, all of them staring at the court with wide eyes. "Not only to actually land a hit with a shot like that, but also that inhuman accuracy of that guy!" He commented.

"Something like that would have been unthinkable for Midorimacchi before now." Kise commented, making them all look at him confusedly, wanting him to elaborate. "From the beginning, Midorimacchi won't attempt a shot unless he has absolute confidence in it." He told them all. "But for that technique just now, no matter how precise the pass is, the accuracy of the shot goes down lower than an average shot. Even if it's to beat Akashicchi, Midorimacchi must really trust his teammates." He said. Altogether not really something that surprised Lucy too much.

But he was right nonetheless. It was a shot unlike anything Midorima would have done, even back when he was younger. But he had felt pressured into taking a risk down there, because as Kuroko had told her a week back or so, the Generation of Miracles hadn't ever used their full potential when sparring against each other in Teiko, simply because their bodies weren't ready for the strain their talent put on it. That wasn't a problem any longer, as such this was the first time for Midorima to feel the effects of Emperor Eye used against him in a match. Likewise for Akashi.

And this new technique made it very clear that Akashi was now feeling quite pressured about the situation, especially when Midorima landed another shot doing the same trick.

However… When on the defense, Midorima still couldn't do anything against Akashi's 'order' to stay out of his path, he had no choice but to fall.

But there was one big difference this time around. Midorima didn't give up. Not even as he sat with his ass on the floor like that, he got up and he jumped up right behind Akashi, making it impossible for the redhead to score.

Unfortunately, even though he had not seen it coming, Akashi passed the ball back to Nebuya, who was completely free. Once again, the little redhead showcased his situational analysis speed and how terrifyingly quick it was.

Though not even with this did Rakuzan come through. Shutoku's giant pile of muscles of a captain hit the ball right out of Nebuya's hands and into Takao's, which meant another Takao-Midorima combo. That was the third one in a row they had landed.

Not only that though, with the third one landing, the pressure Shutoku was excuding in their defense had risen incredibly high and they had even went so far as to put both Takao and Midorima on Akashi in a double team. And Akashi, the one holding ball, barely seemed to have any chance to get past them and over to the other side of the midcourt.

His answer to this however was so unexpected not even theorists would have guessed anything like it. Alashi took a pair of quick steps back before facing his own goal. And without so much as flinching even the slightest, he scored in it.

"WHAAAAAT?!" The commentator screeched. "An own goal?! He even aimed for it?!" He yelled, sounding more like a squawking bird than anything else. "What the hell is he thinking?!"

But immediately after that, the court and hall also got so silent, the conversation between Akashi and his teammates could be heard even by the crowd.

He was looking around at all of them, a cold, disappointed look in his eyes. "When did I tell you that you could relax? The match is not over yet." He reminded them calmly, but with an implicit promise of death if they didn't man up. "The temporary point difference has made you slack off in the match. Even a few consecutive goals made you uneasy." He told them. "If the point difference had been smaller, we would not have displayed such unsightly plays. It would be better if we did not have an advantage at all." He said. "Cool yourselves off a little." He ordered them.

At that order seemed to go in a direct path straight to their hearts, as all four of the Rakuzan team looked down in something reminiscent to shame.

"However." Akashi said, bringing the attention back to himself again. "If we lose, my own goal just now would be the reason. You can blame me as much as you like." He reassured them. "I will take responsibility and quit the club immediately. And…" He trailed off, his eyes brushing over all of them for a moment to make sure they were all listening. "As a symbol of my atonement I will gouge out my eyes and give them to you." He promised them, his expression as crazy as it had been earlier.

Lucy's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, looking down at the redhead, shocked. It was just something he said to spur them all on… Right? Surely he would never do anything like that..?!

Judging from his teammates' reaction, they weren't having the same doubts she did. "What are you saying, Akashi?! There's no reason to go that far!" They yelled at him, she didn't know who. All she knew was that they were taking this threat seriously. They knew he would not hesitate a moment to do that, now he had promised he would. They knew it was not just an empty threat.

She didn't even realize how much her hands were shaking in fear and worry for Akashi, before she felt one of Kise's land over hers, squeezing it gently. He knew something like this would happen and he had even warned her about it, but… Seeing and hearing it with her own eyes and ears was something so very different. He had warned her, but she her not really taken it to heart, at least not how deeply Akashi was willing to go.

"It is only if we lose." She heard Akashi's voice say from down below. "There is no problem if we win." He told his teammates calmly, as if what he had just said wasn't a psychotic way of thinking and spurring others on. "I am not worried. Because I have confidence that there is no way we could lose against those guys."

With that said, everyong got back into position again, getting ready to play again.

"You can say what you want about that brat's tactics-" Kasamatsu said, bringing their attention to him. "But it works." He said, commenting on how serious the expresions of the Rakuzan players suddenly were. It was beyond compare to the atmosphere they had before. "Not only did he get his own teammates fired up, he freaked the opponent out as well." He commented.

And he was absolutely right. The team play between the three Uncrowned Kings especially grew exponentially. And the threat Akashi handed Midorima didn't help any either, promising him it was 'but a simple matter to change the future'. A.k.a steal every ball sent his direction.

The court grew very silent on Shutoku's side, letting everyone know how much they were focusing on this match and how careful they were not to make a mistake. Why? Because if they made just a simple mistake, the flow of the game would be handed on a silver platter straight into Rakuzan's hands for the rest of the game. This offense, this shot was the one that would decide if Shutoku still stood a chance.

Rakuzan knew that too, and therefore placed a doubleteam on Takao, one so tight he couldn't even pass to anyone. Much less accurately do the Takao-Midorima combo. Surprisingly though, apparently he had seen this coming and rushed right out of the doubleteam and towards Midorima, who was already jumping, completely confident that Takao would break out of it.

And that clearly wasn't without reason, as he had, and now sent the ball off to Midorima, only for Akashi to step in with deadly precision and speed, catching it in on hand above his head, giving him the opportunity to look into Takao's eyes as he spoke. "Did you not hear me? I am absolute." He said, putting emphasis on his last three words as Shutoku froze int heir places, knowing what this steal meant.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction his opponents were under, Akashi ran down the court and landed his goal. "Uwaaa! A steal!" The commentator cheered. "Followed by a quick attack!" He continued to fangirl. "Shutoku's attack failed… Or rather, what an unfortunate miss!" He corrected himself.

"It has been done thrice and Akashicchi has already figured out the kinks to that technique." Kise mumbled, absently rubbing soothing circles at the back of her hand.

Lucy nodded. "Of course he has, the technique has a fatal flaw." She said. She'd been wondering how long it would take Akashi to figure out how to use it against them. "Since Shintaro is left-handed, the ball has to come from the left and even though he might not have the ball in his hands, his shooting movements are still as they used to be." She explained. "He hardly even needed the Emperor Eye for this one. Only to move one step faster than Takao and ensure he couldn't take it back at the last moment." She told him.

Kise looked at her, surprised. "When did you figure all this out?" He asked her, stunned with how she completely read the one he had once called his captain.

She smiled slightly. "Probably the same time he did - at the second shot. The third one he just used to confirm his theory." She told the other blonde, whose jaw dropped to the floor. "Furthermore, I think Akashi has been taking it slow this whole time without anyone noticing and is only now showing some of his true capability. It would seem this whole match was planned out by Akashi alone." She commented.

If there was one side of herself she was proud of, it was her quick witts. She knew she was smart. But she also knew she probably wasn't smart enough to lay out such an intricate plan as the one Akashi had laid out for Shutoku.

And now they realized this very thing, they also got desperate, easily falling for feints. Mibuchi went straight for the kill and scored a three pointer, while drawing a fault out of Takao, making a four-point play. Which the commentator was quick to scream out.

Even though Midorima fought to the last drop, it simply wasn't enough, he could reach Akashi when he threw the last ball of that match, scoring just as the buzzer sounded, ending the fourth quarter and game. "Sleep, Veteran King." He taunted as the score was announced.

"Time's up!" The commentator screeched. "Rakuzan High School wins 86 to 70!" He yelled and let the crowd go wild. Once again, the two teams lined up and bowed to each other, before going each of their ways. Lucy couldn't keep in the breath of relief she released at the result of the game. Rakuzan had won.

"Huh.. Rakuzan's being kinda quiet." Moriyama commented. "Rather than celebrating their victory, it seems as though they're just relived to have overcome an ordeal." He said, almost as if he was being insulted.

While Kasamatsu went off about something about being the strongest team and that victory was expected, Lucy quickly squeezed Kise's hand, making him realize he had yet to let go and he almost jumped in his seat. "Oh! Sorry!" He said, moving to pull his hand back.

Lucy held on to it for a moment longer, before shaking her head with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, it was nice." She reassured him. "Well, I have to go find Nijimura, I know he's here somewhere. Thanks for today." She said, smiling.

"Nah, it was nice!" He repeated her words, grinning. "See you around, Lucy!" He said and waved as she got up and walked away, giving him a wave in return.

For once, Lady Luck was on her side; she didn't have to walk very far, before she found the guy she had been looking for. "Nijimura!" She called out to him.

He immediately turned around and faced her, this time apparently not accompanied by his friend. "Lucy?" He asked, although he had recognized her voice when she called out to him. He let her catch up to him, before he spoke again. "What can I do for you?" He asked her.

She smiled brightly at him. "I need to talk to you about something."

 **So, leaving it off there. Yup, things happened here, and you guys got yet another friendly reminder of how crazy Akashi truly is~**

 **And it would seem like his chasing her around has ended for now, until she calls them all together again and finally spills the beans, so that's nice.**

 **Well, hope you all enjoyed! And very much thanks to those of you who follow, favorite, review and read this story!**

 **~Line464d**


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61**

 **Here we go again~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yup, no. I don't own Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. **

**Earthland~**

So, apparently Fairy Tail really wasn't a popular guild in the crowd's eyes any longer. That much had been clear when she and her team - Natsu, Erza, Gray and Elfman since Wendy had been attacked - stepped out on the field after clearing the preliminary event in the last, eighth place.

 _ **An hour ago~**_

 _Lucy waited with the other four, ready to go out in the gigantic arena, when Chapati, accompanied by Yajima and Jenny, called them out. They didn't have to wait for long._

" _First team ranks the 8_ _th_ _in the preliminary event. Can they reclaim their glory from the old days?" She heard Chapati ask, already knowing she'd hate him as much as she did the one at Earth. They all began moving when Erza gave them the nod to. "Contrary to their name, let's welcome the rowdy Fairy Tail!" He called as they all stepped out on the arena, Elfman carrying a flag with their guild-insignia on it._

 _Immediately the crowd burst into boo's, showing exactly how much they disliked this. "Are they booing us..?" Gray asked rhetorically, looking around just as they all did. Natsu seemed to be the one, who was most surprised though, his eyes wider than they ever had been as he looked around frantically._

 _Chapati continued unaffectedly. "Despite the fact that they always got the last place over the past few years, Fairy Tail somehow managed to win through the preliminary event. They ranked in the 8_ _th_ _place." He said. It sounded like something he wouldn't even have imagined in his wildest dreams…. He probably thought it was just a stroke of luck. "The return of 'Tenrou Team' shocked the entire land, will they help Fairy Tail become the no. 1 guild in Fiore again?!" He asked._

 _Downturned thumbs, middle finger, angry faces. She hadn't imagined these things ever being pointed towards them. They had been the leading guild once… How exactly did it come to this?_

" _Don't take it seriously, Lucy." She heard Erza say right next to her, seeing how she kept her gaze locked on the ground they were walking on. "As long as our friends are cheering for us." She said and looked up into the crowd._

 _More specifically, Lucy found when she looked up there, the knight was looking up at where the entire guild stood. Banners and confetti were all around them, and they were as noisy as ever, if not a little bit more. Now she knew they were there, she could also hear their cheers clearly stand out among the negative ones. Even Mavis poofed into existence._

 _Lucy smiled gently, then quickly came back to the arena, when Chapati called out the next team. "Next.. Let's welcome the 7_ _th_ _team in the preliminary event!" He called as they saw a team appearing in the shadow of one of the eight entrances to the arena. "The hounds of hell's army, Quatro Cerberus!" He called out._

 _She couldn't prevent a curious eyebrow from racing when she saw the… Interesting set of people coming out of there, loudly screaming about being 'wild'. They were quite… Let's just say alternative in their appearance. But that could probably be said about all the guilds that were about to step out on the arena._

 _From here, Chapati speeded it all up a little. "The 6_ _th_ _place is an all-female guild..!" He announced, and the crowd who'd been clapping for Quatro Cerberus didn't stop for even a second, when the team stepped out on the arena. "The dancer of the ocean, Mermaid Heel!" He practically gushed into the mic._

 _Unsurprisingly, the crowd's males began catcalling the five ladies stepping out from their entrance. It looked like it was only Fairy Tail, who had decided on the matching clothing. It was like they were the only ones meeting up to a costume party dressed in an actual costume._

 _Finally, a few familiar faces were to be called out on the field. "Coming up, the 5_ _th_ _place is the wings that sparkle in the dark, Blue Pegasus!" He announced as the Trimen and some giant rabbit stepped out, attaining a pose with their arms crossed and two fingers pointing out._

 _Generally, the cheers changed from male catcalls to female 'kyaaaaaa~" with this. Unsurprisingly so, by the way. And if there were any male cheers, they were few and completely drowned out by every single female in the crowd._

" _The 4_ _th_ _place, goddess of love and war, sacred destroyers!" Chapati continued as if said crowd weren't even there. "Lamia Scale!" He called as yet another bunch of more or less familiar faces stepped out on the field._

 _Immediately, Lyon and Gray gave each other the stink eye, the usual thing with those two. However, the tension between them lifted when the little, pigtailed girl tripped over nothing - much like Wendy tended to do too - and alas sending the people already there into a chaotic mess, basically._

 _Lyon apparently was of the conviction that if they won, Juvia would join them. Which Gray immediately refused, saying they wouldn't lose either way._

 _This spurred everything into a mess, entirely because of Blue Pegasus. First off was Ichiya, who approached Erza, saying he'd want Erza. Next up, Ren put an arm around Lucy's shoulder, claiming he'd pick her, even if he didn't like her. Eve continued, saying he would pick Wendy, but then coming face-to-face with the least feminine member of their team, Elfman. Hibiki was the smart one out of them though, saying he'd join Mermaid Heel, who didn't react in the slightest, just sorta looked at him disapprovingly._

 _Lucy had a feeling that Pegasus' general approach to Fairy Tail's team was their awkward way of showing their support, or something like that. To cheer them up? That nothing had changed? Things like that. She may have been overthinking it though._

 _Somehow or other, Chapati managed to drown out the team's chaotic mess. "Next up.. The third place… Wow. What a surprise! A first-time guild made their way in the top three!" He said as a nothing less than intimidating team stepped out. "The midnight raider, Raven Tail!"_

 _Fairy Tail blanched, recognizing the name. "Raven Tail?!" Natsu yelled._

" _This is the guild founded by Master's son, Ivan." Erza commented._

 _Lucy frowned. "Weren't they a dark guild?!" She asked, and her suspicion was confirmed, when Master Makarov basically exploded up there._

" _Well…" Chapati said over his mic, clearly hearing the distraught Fairy Tail. "According to official records, Raven Tail has existed for more than 7 years. And they've been approved as an official guild recently." He explained._

 _Yajima also decided to chirp in. "So it's not a dark guild since being approved by a guild league." It was clear to anyone to see how much Makarov was fuming from where he was._

" _Fairy Tail." The armor-clad guy, probably the leader, of the Raven Tail team called out to them. "This little girl was a way of saying hello." He told them, as a little black creature on one of the others' shoulder transformed into a chibi-version of Wendy and mimicked passing out._

 _Natsu growled almost ferociously next to her. "You were the ones who hurt Wendy….!" He snarled at them. "I- We won't let you get away with this." He promised them, gaining various different displays of agreement._

" _Well…. There are only two teams left." Chapati said in an effort to break the tension going on down in the field._

 _Right.. There were two teams left. One of them was Sabertooth, but what about the other one? It seemed all the major guilds had been announced already… Was this simply a strong guild they didn't know of or was it possible that it had something to do with the strange magical presence Jellal had mentioned?_

 _Every single team currently out looked in excited tension towards the entrance this team would come from. "Ahhh, what a surprise!" Chapati said, definitely genuinely surprised. "So this could be the opportunity for the broken-winged fairies to fly again?!" He yelled. What..? "Seriously?! Could that be.. B Team of Fairy Tail!" He yelled, as confused as anyone else there._

" _WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Natsu immediately yelled, seeing Juvia, Gajeel, Mira, Laxus and…. Mystogan?! "GAJEEL?!" Was the first thing that he noticed apparently._

" _Juvia?!" Gray asked loudly, as surprised as Natsu and not ashamed to show it._

 _Likewise, Elfman also had one person he noticed as the first one. "NEE-CHAN?!" He basically roared._

 _All Lucy noticed was how that team got the powerhouses, three S-class mages - even if Mystogan wasn't supposed to be at Edolas…? - and two formerly S-class… Why?_

 _Finally, Natsu caught up with what was going on around him. "Hey, hey, hey… WHY IS MYSTOGAN THERE?!" He yelled. And when Erza asked if he was really just Jellal, it was confirmed with a 'shh'._

 _The other teams didn't seem all too surprised, really, and those that knew Fairy Tail decided that if anyone was able to do that, it wasn't too much of a surprise Fairy Tail would be the ones. The crowd was still flustered though, just like the A-team - as they probably should be called now - was._

" _Well, Yajima-san. Seems many people find themselves confused by the amended rules." Chapati commented, sending it right on to the old man._

" _Right.." Yajima said, picking it right up, where Chapati left it for him. "For this even, each guild is allowed to send at most two teams to compete." He said. So that's why they were there too. Why hadn't Master told them anything?_

" _The teams should be competing against each other.. So what's it gonna be between the two teams from the same guild?" Chapati asked. Clearly he didn't know Fairy Tail very well if he thought that would be a problem._

" _But…" Jenny said, saying something for the first time since all of this started, other than cheering for her own team. "Isn't that unfair?" She said, a bratty tone in her voice. "If each team sends one member to compete, then there would be two members from Fairy Tail."_

 _Chapati seemed to be agreeing. "Which means Fairy Tail would have a great advantage with the two teams that won, rather than just one." He argued._

 _Lucy rolled her eyes. Idiots. Shouldn't they instead be rewarded that they managed to get two teams through rather than be punished? Besides, Fairy Tail was probably the most competitive guild out there between their member. It would literally not be a problem. And she knew she wasn't the only one who thought that. "3… 2… 1.."_

" _ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!" Natsu exploded and pointed straight at a semi-surprised Gajeel. "Even if we're from the same guild, we won't hesitate to take you down!" He promised the Iron Dragon Slayer. "We're rivals now that we're in different teams! You guys won't stand a chance!" He yelled._

 _Gajeel smirked and did his trademark laugh. "Suits me, 8_ _th_ _placers." He taunted the Fire Dragon Slayer._

 _She glanced at where Erza seemed to be talking with Jellal. So Master had probably suggested this idea after learning of Jellal's little discovery. Maybe it'd even help if he was placed in the middle of everything, rather than just observing._

" _Okay!" Chapati yelled, putting an end to the conversations going on down underneath and continuing the little ceremony. "Now there's only one team left! That's right! I'm sure you all already know!" Chapati said, listening to the crowd's cheering, as they already knew who was coming. It was deafening, really. "It's the best! The undefeated! The ultimate king!" He said just as the five members stepped out. "SABERTOOTH!" He yelled._

 _Sting and Rogue she immediately recognized, seeing as they were walking in the front of the five-man squad. Behind them was a Laxus-sized guy with minty-green hair and beside him a blonde guy dressed like some kind of musketeer or something. Finally, the single and only girl on the team._

 _There was something about this white haired girl dressed in a weird, white cape. She was familiar in some way, she just didn't know how to explain it. Though… Lucy hadn't seen her in her entire life, she was pretty sure, the other girl would have been a kid if she had, so she didn't understand this feeling…_

 _Either way, she'd figure that out later, time wasn't really for it right now. While Gajeel growled at Rogue, Natsu looked to Sting. "You guys finally showed up." He simply stated. Seemed those four had met already. Not too surprising._

 _Sting smirked, lifting his hand and making an 'L'. In his eyes, it probably meant 'Loser', but Fairy Tail didn't exactly put the same message into that sign. 'Love', how cute~ "Let's enjoy the game, Natsu-san." He replied to the Fire Dragon Slayer._

 _Lucy simply couldn't help herself as she deliberately brought attention to herself by coming up to stand next to Natsu. She smiled sweetly and tilted her head when the other blonde noticed her, his jaw crashing to the ground. "Hello Sting-kun~" She sang._

 _It took him a second before he collected himself and instead of just gaping, actually glared at her, pointing a finger straight at her. "You….!" He snarled at her, his anger radiating out of every pore of his body._

" _Me?" She asked, feigning innocence. She'd been around Gajeel, Aomine, Haizaki and Cana for far too long._

" _I'm gonna show you…!" He said, approaching her with long strides, then growling when the Fire Dragon Slayer stepped half in front of the blonde girl, blocking his way and view. "Butt your head out of this, Natsu-san." He ordered the other guy._

 _Natsu replied his growl with a snarl. "Like hell I will." He replied. Lucy frowned at Natsu, a little annoyed he found it necessary to do that. She'd riled Sting up and she'd take care of it herself too, he was sort of ruining her fun here. Did he really think she wouldn't be able to handle herself with something like that?_

 _Finally, Rogue turned his head, taking only a moment to identify the scene his twin was a part of, before calling out to said twin. "Drop it, Sting." He told him._

 _Sting whipped his head around to put a lessened form of the glare to the black haired guy. "What the hell, Rogue? Aren't you supposed to be on my side?!" He asked his friend._

 _Rogue sighed, annoyed. "I am not picking sides, I am telling you this is not the right time or place for you to avenge your broken heart." He said, a faint glint of amusement in his voice and eyes._

 _While Sting spluttered in anger, neither Lucy nor Natsu could help grinning at each other in laughter, a chuckle could be heard from the musketeer of Sabertooth. "To imagine the day would come when the 'Great' Sting Eucliffe fell and was rejected by Fairy Trash." He said, immediately making Lucy and Natsu's grins morph into scowls. "I must memorize this." He said, pulling his ridiculously big hat down just a tad._

 **Present~**

Well, even though Natsu stepped in, it was funny enough. If and when Sting and Natsu went head to head - or if she was actually lucky enough to herself - this would probably just spark it up a few notches, much more probably wouldn't come out of it, if Sting was anything like Natsu.

The games had started out with that game 'Hidden'. The members chosen to go were sent into different parts of a big, illusionary city they somehow created in the middle of the arena, sending each of the competitors into different parts of the city, then duplicated them in an amount equal to the amount there was in Tokyo during rush-hour.

The idea was basically to hide and seek all at the same time. If they hit any of the others with an attack, magical or not it seemed, it didn't even have to be a strong hit, the attackers would gain one point and the attacked lose one. Meanwhile, if they went and attacked a duplicate rather than the real thing, they'd lose a point as well. When losing a point, you'd get teleported somewhere else and could continue trying.

The ones sent in were Beth from Mermaid Heel, Eve from Blue Pegasus, Jäger from Quatro Cerberus, Nullpudding from Raven Tail, Lyon from Lamia Scale, which meant Gray from Team A was going, which meant Juvia from Team B joined as well. In the end, from Sabertooth, it was Rufus who joined this game.

It was also quickly revealed that Master had held another secret from them, this one being that there was a punishment game going on between the two Fairy Tail teams. The team which won, would have the other team do whatever they'd wish for a day, no matter what it may be. Which, of course, made the B Team agree to do this in the first place.

In the end, it ended out with the Fairy Tail teams occupying the last two spots on the list, with Juvia placing above Gray. From here Cerberus got sixth, Mermaid fifth, Pegasus fourth, Lamia third, Raven Tail second and Sabertooth first.

Gray and Juvia lost only because Nullpudding specifically went after them the entire game, giving them a lot of negative points and himself a lot of positive. Rufus won because his Memory Make magic allowed him to hit all the other seven at the same time, while easily evading any attackers even though he was in plain sight on top of a building.

Of course, this loss didn't help any on the crowd's view on Fairy Tail. If anything, it just got worse. And it was beyond clear it got to Gray as he walked back and through the entrance they'd come through a while ago. He hardly even responded as Natsu roared for the crowd to shut up and Lucy tried to cheer him up.

Unfortunately, she didn't have much chance to go and make sure he was fine - which was also for the best, he probably needed some alone time - as she was the first one to battle.

"The first match of day one! Fairy Tail A's Lucy Heartfilia vs Raven Tail's Flare Corona!" He announced and her breath caught in her throat. She was the first one to battle?

"Lucy, show them the results of our training!" Natsu said with an amount of excitement that rivalled when he had, when he was going into battle himself.

"If we win here, it'll still be a tie." Erza said basically the same thing the blonde girl had told Gray when he left.

"OOOOOOOOOHHH! Knock 'em out!" Elfman hollered.

They hurt Wendy… That was their way of greeting them. And during that competition they prioritized getting in Gray's way, bringing him into the slump he was in now. She was angry. The emotions she had been building up, all the pain and anger she had from Earth - mainly because of a certain redhead - and now this, it just boiled over in her.

"Leave it to me." She told her team. "I'll definitely win." She promised them, hearing the cheers from her own guild from somewhere far away.

She followed the guidance of the pumpkin-guy and stood in the middle of the big arena, facing the crazy woman from Raven Tail as the other teams went up to the waiting area, seeing as the whole arena would be used as battlefield.

She simply listened to Chapati as Flare continued to chant 'blondie' in one of the creepiest ways possible, her head tilted in an unnatural angle. She couldn't lose this one.

"The time limit is 30 minutes. If, within that time, the opponent is rendered unable to battle or surrender, that's a win." He told them. "And with that, the first match… Begins!" He yelled and the crowd exploded into cheers.

It was lucky she'd been at the Winter Cup and experienced a crowd like this, she had no problem tuning out the crowd and commentator any longer.

She decided to start out with muscle, to could figure out what this woman could and could not do, so she pulled out the first key. "Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" She called, swinging the key down.

"MOOOO!" Taurus yelled, already aware of the situation, having felt her mood from the Spirit World, and immediately swung his battle axe down towards Flare. Unfortunately, the lady nimbly avoided it by jumping up.

Not slowing down, Lucy pulled out another key, keeping her magic going from the other summon. "Scorpio!" She yelled as he too popped into existence.

"We are!" He yelled, before going down on all four and letting his scorpion-like tail jut forward, towards the opponent. "Sand Buster!" He yelled and out of his tail exploded a whirlwind of sand.

Somehow, Flare's intricate braid loosened up and released themselves, showing off her otherwise beautiful, fiery red hair. That 'somehow' was quickly revealed as the red locks shot forward and blocked the sand.

Lucy didn't even give herself time to blink and instead called out to her Spirits. "Taurus! Scorpio's sand!" She said, knowing he'd know what to do.

"Mooooo-ok!" He responded, pulling the axe over his shoulder with ease. "Suction!" He called as the sand began whirling around his axe faster and faster.

"Let's go Taurus!" Scorpio called out to the other Spirit, raising his little and index finger, as he usually did.

Taurus simply responded by charging directly at Flare with his axe raised. "Sandstorm Axe Aldebaran!" He bellowed as he slammed the axe down on the ground, in turn making four tornadoes rise up and whirl the unprepared Raven Tail member up into the air with a shriek. Meanwhile, both Spirits popped back into their own world, to not tear on the blonde's magic further.

Unfortunately she quickly collected herself again, finding herself in a perfect position in the air, with her head down. "Hair Shower - Wolf Fang!" She yelled as her hair shot forward towards the blonde and morphing into a red wolf at the end.

Lucy quickly acted, pulling out yet another gold key. "Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" She called and the sort of strange but lovable Spirit fell down from the sky.

"Ebi!" He said, cutting the red hair with incredibly speed as he fell to the ground. "If it's a haircut… Leave it to me, ebi!" He said, landing in a hero-pose and scissors in each hand.

"My… Hair!" Flare yelled at the unevenly cut strands as Cancer too went back. "Damn you!" She hissed and forced her hair down into the ground in two thick strands. Less than a second passed, before each strand curled around Lucy's ankles and hefted her into the air with a scream. "My red hair can move however I wish.." And as if to prove that, she moved it to slam the blonde down on the ground. "Eat that!"

A sudden thought made its way into the blonde's head and she grabbed the weapon resting at her hip. "If that's the case, my Fleuve d'étoiles moves however I want!" She yelled and slashed it out at her opponent, grabbing one of her wrists.

With this, both ladies forced each other up and around in a circle, before smashing to the ground on their backs. Lucy quickly sat back up, but then found a strange sensation at her feet. Turning around, she found out the boots had been completely destroyed from where Flare had grabbed them. Her hair must have done it somehow. Nonetheless, they were of no use any longer, they were a hindrance.

"My… Sunset hair… My red hair… This level of damage…" Flare muttered to herself, before jumping to her feet and sending her entire mane into the ground in a frenzy.

Lucy immediately looked down at her feet, but seeing nothing, she looked around in the arena to figure out where the red hair had gone. Her attention was drawn to Flare, when the woman lifted a finger and pointed to the left.

A foreboding feeling washed over her as she looked towards where her guild was standing, all those who didn't participate in the games. And it wasn't without reason, she saw, as next to their currently youngest member, a single strand of dangerously red hair swished teasingly next to the oblivious, young girl.

"ASUKA-CHAN!" Lucy yelled, but was silenced when red hair wrapped around her mouth and twirled her around, into the ground.

Flare looked down at the blonde with a scary, threatening look. "Don't make a sound. This is an order." She told the blonde. "I don't know what might happen if you disobey… No matter how much of a dimwitted blonde you are.. You must at least understand this." The redhead told her.

Lucy gritted her teeth. If she said anything now… She had no idea what Flare would do and she wouldn't risk the young girl like that. What could she do…?

Flare tilted her head, letting her hair cover everything but a single eye. "Don't make a sound. Don't make a move. Don't use magic." She told the blonde, limiting her options even further. "If you disobey me, who knows what'll happen?" She said and giggled creepily.

Just what could Lucy do in this situation? Having been told not to move, she could do nothing but take the whip of hair as well as possible, giving herself room to think. But it was hard with the maniac laugh that escaped the Raven Tail member.

Lucy fell to the ground and found herself being slashed across her side again, making her roll around on the ground and the woman laughing even further. Opening her eyes, she saw the strand of hair swishing playfully next to Asuka, who was yelling for her to fight.

She closed her eyes when she heard the hair approaching again and felt it whip across her half-bare back. Their goal was to become the number one guild of Fiore again… Wendy… Gray… She could do nothing but internally flood everyone with apologies as she slowly sat up, clutching the sand.

She had no other choice. "I… I surren-" Was all she managed to say, before the red hair wrapped around her mouth tightly.

"Who said it was all right for you to speak, Blondie?!" Flare asked crazily and continued to also let the blonde's wrists and ankles be wrapped in the burning red hair, lifting her up in the air. "As if I'd let you surrender… I'm going to have plenty of fun with you after all." She said with a giggle. "Get it? Please don't say a word." She said as the hair slipped away from the blonde's mouth. "However… I will allow you to scream." She said and went off into a fit of laughter of sorts. More like insane giggles.

Lucy kept her gaze locked on the ground. There was only one thing she could do now, but she didn't know if she would be able to do it… She'd read about it, there was a whole dimension to Celestial magic she hadn't known before she and Team Natsu researched it. But it was advanced. Very advanced. And she had never even attempted it as of yet.

Things like channeling the Spirit's magic, also known as Star Dress, but without summoning it at all, just gaining their abilities and some of their appearance. You could choose how much you'd channel too.

But that wasn't the one she was going for… No. She was going to summon a Spirit without saying a single word or even touching the key. It would be difficult, and she'd have to really focus, keep Flare's taunting as far from her thoughts as she possibly could, when she focused on that one key.

She knew exactly which key it had to be. It had to work. She had to make it work.

"Let's see~ What should I do to you first, I wonder?" Flare asked, seeing the blonde with the absent expression and wanting her back, to could have fun with her. "I guess I can strip you naked… In front of this huge audience." She suggested.

Lucy locked the taunting out of her mind to the best of her ability and closed her eyes. It made it easier to get a grip on her magic.

"That'd be interesting, buuuut I just thought of something even better."

She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to focus. She had to relax, as if she was meditating out near the beach.

"I'll place Raven Tail's Brand on your body."

Lock out the sounds of the swishing hair and the strange smells. The sounds of the crowd, the commentator, even the breeze. Just let her mind go completely silent.

"A brand that will last for the rest of your life."

Feel the gentle magic swirling around warmly in her. Feel it and guide it down to the hip, where the keys are.

"Where do you want me to place it? Hmm~?"

There! Gently, carefully. Don't let anything slip away. She would need all of it, if she wanted to succeed.

"I see. You want me to put it over your Fairy Tail insignia, don't you?"

Now, push it out of your body and let it wrap around the key. Like that, perfect. Then… Let it _explode!_

She felt the pull of her magic and smiled a little, when she heard the beat of wings and girlish squeals in her focused state, where she was slowly letting her senses return to normal. "Huuuuh~ What is this, Blondie? Do you like this idea~?" The redhead asked amusedly.

Lucy finally opened her eyes and met Flare's, keeping her smirk up, but said nothing. She didn't have to though. "For fuck's sake, girl. You need to fucking practice that shit." She heard one of her newer Spirits say, before shadows quickly crawled up the hair Flare had dug into the ground.

She had no time to react when she noticed the same thing and could only scream when the dark shadows enveloped her.

"Call out the two small shitheads, girl. I'm out." Daemon announced as the red hair around her wrists and ankles gradually loosened.

She gave the Spirit a smile. "Thank you, Daemon!" She called out, before the winged demon Spirit disappeared in a poof, revealing Natsu to be standing right behind him, probably would have pulled at the hair himself if her Spirit hadn't been faster. She didn't have the time to act on that though. She had only a little handful of seconds, before the shadows disappeared from Flare. So, alas, she grabbed Gemini's key and pulled it out. "Open! Gate of the Twins! Gemini!" She yelled. The two popped into existence next to her. "We're going to do 'that', Gemi and Mini!" She said.

They gave her a nod. "We still haven't practice enough." Mini said.

Gemi placed itself on top of its twin. "We don't know whether we can do it." It agreed.

Lucy shook her head. "We have to do it!" She told them as they transformed to her. In a bath-towel. "Why are you dressed like that?!" She shrieked, knowing there was absolutely nothing underneath that towel.

Gemini-Lucy scratched the back of her head apologetically. "Sorry, Lucy.. This was how you looked when we copied you." They apologized.

Hearing Flare utter her nickname for her, Lucy quickly brushed off the topic and grabbed her copy's hand, both closing their eyes as they channeled what magic they had.

"Survey the Heavens. Open the Heavens. All the stars, far and wide." They chanted together, in the same voice. "Show me thy appearance, with such shine." They continued, feeling their magic connecting between them "Oh Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars. Aspect become complete." They raised their clasped hands up above them, feeling a strong upwind of magic rush through them. "Open thy malevolent gate." They said, before turning around with their hands still clasped and their backs to each other, pointing at Flare. "Oh 88 Stars of the Heaven…" Lucy opened her eyes, swirling with magic, and looked unseeingly straight at Flare. "Shine." She said as Flare's expression twisted in fear. "URANO METRIA!" She yelled as Gemini disappeared again and the magic exploded around her.

The golden magic stretched out and filled the entire arena, bathing it in a soft, warm glow. It spread to the sky and darkened into a starry sky, littered with planets of different, magnificent colors above them. Then it pulled down in one fellow swoop, gathering in front of her and sending pulse after pulse out around her and Flare, each with rising strength, testifying to the fact that it could implode at any second.

…

But nothing happened.

It was as if it had shorted out on itself somehow. All she could do was stand there and look up into the now clear, blue sky decorated with a ball of fire in wonder as her senses gradually returned to her. She slowly realized just how exhausted she was physically, but most of all how empty her magical reserves suddenly were. As if to prove this point, her legs began to give way when the realization of what just happened hit. "It… It was erased.." She muttered.

As she began falling down in her collapse, she caught Flare looking up at her team with an insecure, yet smug smile and wide eyes, clearly still a little shocked with the magic the blonde had released. And showing Lucy it wasn't because she lacked magic, but because it had been cancelled.

She could hear the crowd go into a frenzy, or more specifically her own team, about what had just happened. But the sounds above all that went in a b-line to her brain were the commentators, who were so many times louder than everyone else.

"What in the world happened?! Lucy's magic didn't activate!" Chapati said, in shock. "Yajima-san! This is..?!" And that was probably when he looked at Yajima. "Ya… Yajima-san…?" He asked slowly.

As Lucy fell over, she didn't need Chapati's words to know she had lost this match. The only fight left was the battle against unconsciousness. She couldn't faint or fall asleep now, no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn't show up at Earth looking like she did right now.

So, in an effort to keep herself awake, she rolled to her side and let her emotions overtake her as the crowd jeered and laughed at her and her loss.

She had been too weak to defeat Flare. If she had taken the other woman out earlier, her magic wouldn't have cancelled. She had gotten little, adorable Asuka into danger and had to do something as uncertain as what she had done to summon Daemon. If she had just used Fleuve d'étoiles and her own brawn, the way Gajeel had taught her, then she might have had a shot at defeating Flare, since that couldn't be cancelled.

No.. She wasn't strong enough for that. Flare's hair would have defeated her even quicker without the need of outside help. She just wasn't strong enough and she never had been. She had deluded herself into thinking she could beat this woman, Flare, who was much more battle-hardened than she was and knew how to battle. She hadn't had a chance, right from the beginning.

And now… Now she had failed Gray. She had failed Wendy. She had failed her team. And most of all… She had failed Fairy Tail.

She was a failure.

And the crowd had known that right from the beginning, they had tried to convince her, but she was too thick-headed to understand.

"Don't cry Lucy." She heard a way past familiar voice say and she froze where she lay on the ground, even her stream of tears stopped. "Save the tears for when we win." Her best friend and pink haired partner told her. She didn't even bother drying her eyes, when his inviting hand entered her view, offering to support her, like it always had. "You were amazing!" He told her as she slowly took it, succumbing to her weakness and need for help once again. "Thanks to you, we realized that we could fight in this world." He said.

What was he even talking about? She hadn't done a single thing to making them realize anything. She had been nothing but a burden on them, right from the start. Always in need of being saved, always in need of their help.

"Zero points?" He gave a short laugh. "That just makes things interesting. We'll turn the tides now, just believe in us." He said and she could practically hear his trademark grin in his voice.

She let herself be pulled up, but kept her gaze trained on their feet, not feeling the courage or that she deserved to meet his gaze at all. "Yeah… Thanks Natsu." She muttered, not at all convinced of his words as he put an arm around her and gently guided her back to the infirmary, the crowd laughing all around them.

 **Yeah… So that's how this installment will end.**

 **So, while I did minor twists to Flare and Lucy's battle, they really weren't many. Like,** _ **really**_ **minor. (Forgetting the new Spirit and all) It was more her reaction afterwards and her thought-process throughout the entire thing I had my fun with. Yup. ^-^**

 **Hope you enjoyed nonetheless! And thank you very much for your reviews, follows, favorites and all of you who read, of course! I'm bad at keeping up with it at this point, honestly. But everything has come above 200 just recently, so thank you sosososososoSO much for your support, guys!**

 **~Line464d**


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62**

 **So, back to Earth once again!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope. Nu-uh. No way. I don't own either. It would have gone to all hell if I did**

 **Earth~**

She sighed as she felt herself gliding into consciousness. After having Porlyusica looking her over with the slight burns around her ankles and the whip-slashes all over, she went back to her and her team's inn-room, knowing the Games were over either way from the silence that fell over the arena after the tons of noise there'd been all day.

When she arrived, she'd found Gray lying in his bed, facing the window-panel leading to the little balcony they had, overlooking a quaint, little street of Crocus. She'd crept her way to him, thinking he was lost in thought, but then recognized the deep, puffing breaths he took. So instead she went to her bag, grabbed new, untorn clothes and went to the bathroom to change. Now she was at it, she also covered up the reddened spots on her wrists, from which Flare's hair had held her suspended in the air, with makeup.

She was wearing long-sleeved and -legged clothes, of course. Not only because it relieved her of having to cover everything up, but also because it was getting quite cold on Earth.

Though, when she got out, her team, and a now awakened Gray, hauled her out to drink with the rest of Fairy Tail, promising this would be the last day they were so thoroughly at the bottom. It seemed even Team B hadn't won, seeing as it was 'Mystogan' up against Jura. Interference from Meredy and Ultear made it impossible for him to truly fight.

In the end, she had gone back early, having gotten exhausted from the day's events. And alas had gone to bed and headed for Earth long before anyone else had even returned to the room.

It was first now the young blonde opened her eyes to see where she was. It couldn't be far from the Winter Cup building, since Shutoku and Kaijo were playing for the third place.

And while she somehow instinctually knew she was at the building, she still didn't know exactly where in the building she was.

Looking around at all the tables and chairs placed almost strategically around the big room, she dared the guess that she was in the cafeteria here.

And of course, she was lying on one of the tables. At least it didn't seem like they had opened up just yet, judging by the number of people present - zero. That sure made things easier.

As soon as she had finished that thought, she could hear the lock being turned by the double-door. She didn't have any time to hide, all she could do was jump down from the table to make the whole situation just a little less strange.

She turned around and watched silently as a plump, somewhat aged woman, with silver-gray hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, opened the doors wide. All the while humming a happy tune, not noticing the other person present as she went about what seemed to be her daily routine.

The woman - wearing a pair of librarian glasses, she found - continued being oblivious about the other presence, while going on with her duties. Pushing a misplaced chair properly under the table, brushing off a few non-existent crumbs from the counter-desk, correcting a few glasses.

All without Lucy moving or making the slightest peep. She just watched as the strange woman simply seemed to ignore the blonde.

Something about the lady rang a bell in her mind. She recognized her from somewhere. She knew she did. She just didn't know why or from where she did.

The way she moved, the way she perfected everything before the customers came in, the way she walked, her voice, the melody she was humming… All of that. She felt she had seen and heard it before, a strong sense of déjà vu.

And when the woman finally looked up with a jump, having finally, suddenly noticed the blonde, it finally clicked in said blonde's mind.

Likewise it seemed to have in the older woman, what with the way she was pushing her glasses down to look at the silent blonde over them. "Oh my…" She muttered, before quickly making her way around the counter, a bright smile on her lips. "Why, if it isn't Lucy-chan!" She happily said and spread her arms out wide just in time to catch the blonde, who had come speeding towards her, in an embrace.

"Mary!" Said blonde almost squealed in delight, remembering all the times she had spent with this woman in Teiko's canteen. She pulled away from her a little to could look into her warm eyes. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously, wondering.

The older woman smiled fondly. "Oh, I own this cafeteria here, dear." She told the blonde girl, gesturing around at the room.

Lucy looked at her in wonder. "You do?" She asked quite dumbly. Of course she owned this place, why else would she be the first to enter? "But what about the one in Teiko..?" She continued to ask.

"I own that one too." She confirmed, her smile never leaving her face even once.

"Both of them?" Lucy continued dumbly. "Then who's taking care of Teiko right now?" She asked. This was still the ordinary every day for anyone but the high school basketball teams after all.

The smile changed to let the blonde know the woman was having fun. "That would be my employees." She said, and seeing Lucy's confused expression, she continued. "You see, after having you that half year, I found having a co-worker invaluable, so I found some." She said as her eyes crinkled up in an upturned 'u'. "Of course, they don't seem to draw in quite as many customers as you managed to." She said and chuckled.

"Oh…" The blonde said, finally understanding what was going on. Was she really getting that slow on the uptake? "Well, I'm glad I was of help." She said with a bright smile.

"Of course!" Mary said, as something caught her eye on the other side of the window. "Oh…" She said, turning and moving towards the window. "Would you look at that…"

As she said that, Lucy moved to stand next to her. "What is it?" She asked, before following her gaze outside, where a lot of people were beginning to filter into the building.

"Don't you see them?" She asked, pointing her finger right out the window. "Down there." She said, as Lucy's eyes flew around, trying to pinpoint what Mary was talking about.

And that was when she saw it. Or rather, them. "Atsushi, Sat-chan and Daisuki-chan…. And their teams?" She asked, thoroughly confused.

"Yes." The cafeteria lady replied, remembering the girl using those names for the three out there. "They sure have grown those children. I still remember the time those two small ones barely reached my shoulder." She laughed as she patted her shoulders.

Lucy nodded. That was around the time she was there, then. Akashi and Kuroko… They really weren't that tall back then. Well, that sure had changed. "Yeah." She agreed absently.

"I remember their table being awfully silent at their second year." She said, watching as Lucy smiled slightly at the memory of how boisterous she remembered those lunch breaks around the table to be. "It was clear they all really missed having you around, dear." She said, looking out again as the blonde's expression grew somewhat grim. "Well… It seemed to get even worse after that captain of theirs was gone and the head coach collapsed. They hardly even said a single word to each other then." She said almost sadly.

The blonde sighed lightly in her best attempt at keeping her own emotions to boil rather than explode. She had to listen to what this woman was telling her… None of those Miracles, their captain, their manager or their sixth man liked to talk about their past much for whatever reason. She couldn't be sure she'd ever get a chance like this again at all. She still only had a faint feeling of what had happened those two years to bring them to this point.

"Well.. It does seem like they've changed a little since then, most of them at least." She said, making the topic just a little lighter, while not noticing the frustrated expression the blonde arrived at, having not found out much about those two years. "I'm sure your return has a part to play in this." She said.

Lucy raised a hand between them and shook her head. "Ah, no. I think the blame lies on Kuroko and Seirin entirely, not me." She said with a little, humorless laugh.

"I don't think that's true." Mary said, placing a hand gently on the blonde's shoulder, easily getting her attention. "You should believe in yourself and what you can do a little more, Lucy-chan. You can do much more than you believe, just by being you." She said and gently patted her shoulder, a kind smile on her face.

"Thank you…" Lucy whispered, completely at a loss for words at what the woman had just told her. That was not what she expected to hear. It almost sounded like she knew something the blonde didn't… Or maybe it was just the age difference?

Nonetheless, they weren't allowed to continue, as three knocks sounded by the door. "Sorry, you're open now, aren't you?" A familiar voice asked by the entrance.

"Ah, yes, of course!" Mary said and hurried ahead to the counter. "What can I do for you?" She asked kindly.

Lucy smiled and waved at Kagami - getting a nod in return - when they exchanged gazes, before he moved towards the counter as well. "Was just looking for some sandwiches or something. Seems my entire team decided not to eat breakfast today." He said with a shrug.

"Right, it'll be ready in a second!" She said, already hurrying back in the kitchen in the adjoining room.

"Do you need any help, Mary?" Lucy offered, calling out to her. The whole team… That was a lot of sandwiches to make in the time span of a second.

"No, no, I'll be fine, dear." She reassured the blonde, already swinging the knife around and cutting in a frenzy. Or so it sounded like to the other two.

Kagami looked down at the curious blonde. "You know that woman?" He asked, wanting to at least start up some form of conversation.

She nodded. "Yeah, I helped her quite often back at Teiko." She confirmed. "Found out she owns this place too just now.." She said with a smile.

He just nodded, not entirely sure what he should say to that. So for a long, awkward moment, the two just remained silent.

"So.." Lucy said, breaking the silence again. "You guys are going to play Rakuzan next, huh?" She asked rhetorically. "Are you all ready for it?" She asked awkwardly.

"As ready as can be, I guess." He replied. "They're going to be tough, no doubt about that, but it'd be stupid if we didn't win after getting this far." He told her honestly.

She couldn't help but laugh and nod at that. "Well, that's true." She agreed. She knew a certain pink haired someone who'd feel the same in that situation.

"Yeah, there's nothing worse than second place." Kagami declared, his arms crossed as he turned around and leaned back with his hips against the counter-table.

"Huh? Second place?" She asked. In her head, that was an awesome placing - especially for a new team such as theirs. "Isn't that a good placing?" She asked, now thoroughly confused.

"In the big picture, yeah, it is. But nothing hurts more than that single, last loss, y'know?" He said, almost as if he was speaking from experience. "You won every single match up till that one, and then you go ahead and lose the final match with the 1st place right there in front of you." He told her. "It's damn painful, I tell you."

She nodded, imagining how it'd feel if that scenario played out for them at the Grand Magic Games. It'd be unbearable. Especially if it was to either Raven Tail or Sabertooth. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean." She told him.

And that was when Mary appeared again, four bags filled to the brim with sandwiches were mounted in her arms, as she hurried to the desk before spilling them all. "Just a second, I have some more!" She told the Seirin player, before hurrying into the other room again in a blur of movement, almost.

"… Right." He mumbled, looking down at the four bags already there. "These should be more than enough for us already, though." He told the older woman.

"I know!" She called from the other room as the sound of a door being closed roughly sounded all the way back to them and her hurried footsteps approaching them. "14 of each should be fitting, right?" She asked, though it seemed she was completely sure of the number, before hauling a green plastic box up, holding 14 half-liter bottles of water.

"One too many. How'd you even know I needed this many?" He asked her curiously.

She smiled. "Oh, that's simple. I've seen you and your team play, so I know you're a team that sticks together." She said, as if that answered anything. It did when she continued. "So, when you said team, I thought twelve. Both because you're a new team and because that's the number you were earlier, I believe. Then you have that young, sweet coach as well." She counted all of them.

Slightly shocked, put nicely, Kagami looked down at the surprisingly perceptive older woman. "Then… Why the last one?" He asked her.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked. When she got a shake from the both of them, she elaborated. "It's for Lucy-chan, of course! And since you're a friend of hers, I'll let it be on the house today too!" She declared energetically.

"Me? Why? Let me at least pay for it!" The blonde asked, confused. She wasn't a part of that team. She wasn't part of any team, really. Didn't Mary know that?

"Because!" She said as the only reply, as if that was supposed to make sense. Then she began doing that wavy motion with her hands. "Now, off with you. Shoo, shoo!" She said as if they were a pair of stray dogs.

Lucy sighed, smiling, then shook her head at the woman. She probably knew the blonde had planned on helping her out with this place if she'd been allowed to stay. "All right, then. What do I carry, Kagami?" She asked him, seeing he was just about to take it all himself.

"Huh?" He asked, turning his confused, red eyes to her. Then he shook his head at her. "Nothing. I can carry it all." He said, having put the sandwich bags on top of the waters, so he could carry it all at the same time. With that, he picked up the box.

She raised an eyebrow at how he struggled to find his balance with all of that in his arms. "Right." She said, before reaching up and taking the four sandwich-bags right off the box and gathering them in her arms. "There."

"Hey! What're you doing? I've got this." Kagami reassured her, nodding towards the bags in her arms.

"Yeah, you do now." She said with a smirk, to which she just got a dissatisfied grunt. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Line 5 in the B section. Think they conquered the whole thing." He told her, having to accept that he was not getting those four bags back. "You know, most girls would appreciate a guy carrying all the stuff for them, from what I know." He told her.

She smiled. "Yeah, they probably do. But I'm not most girls." She reminded him.

A snort of laughter escaped him. "That's definitely true." He agreed.

She just continued, unaffected. "Besides, where I come from, it's important you can carry your own weight, girl and boy alike." She told him.

He looked at her with a raised brow, just as she had at him just a little earlier. "Thought you were supposed to be an aristocrat or something?" He asked.

She smiled. "Yeah, I was once. Before I got here, I landed in a much rougher setting though." She explained. "Where do you think I learned to take down a guy much bigger than myself?" She asked, referring to the time she'd taken Haizaki down right in front of him.

He paused for a moment. "Right." He then relented. Aristocrats probably didn't learn that kind of stuff, unless they were guards of some sort. "Speaking of that guy.. Haven't seen him around much since. Did you scare him off?" He asked her curiously, but with a smile.

She giggled. "I've seen him once since, but that's also it." She said. "I might've scared him off, who knows?" She said with a pull of her shoulders.

"Then what about the other guy, who's been stalking you around?" He asked, an amused grin on his face. While he didn't know a lot of girls, this one sure stood out from everyone else he knew. Seriously.

"Huh? Who?" She asked, confused. She had a stalker now?

"Yeah, you know, not very tall, red hair, red and yellow eye. Insane tendencies. That guy." He elaborated.

"Ahh… Akashi?" She asked, for confirmation. When she got a nod, she gave a tiny smile. "Well, we came to an agreement. He'd stop following me around like that and I'd tell him and the others about it all…" She said.

Kagami looked at the blonde with furrowed eyebrows. "The others too? Like Kuroko?" He asked her, to which he got a nod. "What've they gotten anything to do with that, isn't it just Akashi being too suspicious or something?" He asked her.

"No… He is right about it, I have been keeping something from them all right from the beginning, and they deserve to know." She told him, while her mind began spinning. Why exactly was it so easy to talk to this guy? He wasn't supposed to really know she had been..

"Huh… Why haven't you just told them, then?" He asked her, not noticing the dull mood she'd gotten herself into and the many thoughts suddenly running through her head.

She sighed. Exactly a question her dragon slaying partner would have asked her. "It's not really that simple." She told him, looking straight ahead at the hall they were walking through. "In the beginning, I wanted to get to know them all, before I told them all of this. But before then, I had to make up something to cover for the reality and… I guess… Now I've just been covering up and lying for so long it's too hard to just pop up and spill the beans." She admitted, once again wondering why she was telling this guy all of this. He was either easy to talk to, or she really just needed to tell someone about all of this.

He remained silent for a moment, before nodding. "I think I get it. You've been at it for so long it's just easier to lie now, right?" He asked, getting a nod from the blonde. "But it's probably gotten insanely heavy to carry around by yourself by now." He mused, probably not entirely aware of how spot-on he was. "Well, since Akashi's noticed, the others most likely will soon too, so it's probably for the best if you get it out as quick as possible." He said, reaching a conclusion.

She genuinely smiled. Of course, she knew all of this already, but the way he was trying to cheer her up, while thinking he gave her sound advice she hadn't thought of before, reminded her so much of her own best friend back at Earthland. She hadn't gotten much of that kind of advice from him about this, though… She'd relied mostly on Loke, honestly. Mainly because he knew about Earth and had probably been summoned and had experienced it time and time again. Or maybe it was just because he popped up at all the right times. Who knew?

"Thanks, Kagami. I'll try to do that." She promised him. Might as well let him think he was helping her, at least.

He nodded and gestured to the right with his head. "It's right that way, Blondie." He said and they both turned right, down the 'B' hall.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked him, slightly annoyed with the name. That was what Flare had called her just hours ago, and Laxus had way back when too. Both in a negative meaning. It still rang with negativity in her mind.

"Because you're blonde." He simply replied. She just stared up at him until he noticed she did. "What?" He asked, almost innocently.

She just kept staring for a good while, before sighing. "All right then… I guess." She mumbled, before they began climbing the stairs leading up to the seats. "It was line 5, right?" She asked him.

Kagami nodded. "Yeah." He confirmed as both reached the top of the stairs and looked around for the Seirin team.

"Was about damn time, Kagami, you're so slow." One called out to the tall redhead almost angrily. While she didn't know the team very well, she dared the guess that it was Hyuuga. She couldn't imagine any of the others speaking to Kagami like that.

"Oh be quiet, Hyuuga. You have no idea how fast that cafeteria lady worked." Kagami argued, turning to look at his team over his shoulder and at the same time confirming Lucy's suspicion.

"I wasn't talking about the cafeteria lady either, was I?" Hyuuga sharply replied.

The Seirin ace grumbled exasperatedly, but began moving towards them either way, finally letting the much smaller blonde step into their view. "Oh? You brought company, Kagami?" Kiyoshi asked, returning the smile Lucy was giving them all.

He nodded. "Yeah, picked Blondie over there up in the cafeteria." He replied, setting the box down and handing the first person in the line - Kuroko - a bottle, so he could send it down the line. And they did, all without question or need to be told what to do.

She nodded as she approached as well. "Hope you all don't mind me intruding." She kindly said, tilting her head as she had a tendency to do. Well… Hopefully she looked sweet or something while doing it, unlike the crazy look Flare adopted when she did it.

"Not at all." Riko said, giving the blonde a smile, while she pulled at the love-struck Koganei's ear till he was whimpering childishly. "It's nice to have another girl here among all the guys." She said as she quickly made an estimate with her scanning eyes. The strange extra number she'd had earlier was still there… And much, much higher than it had been those two weeks ago. Her physical stats hadn't changed much either, still much more than you'd think a typical school girl would have. Or an atypical one, for that matter.

"You know, Riko. You're more man than some of us right now. Just look at Koganei." Hyuuga commented, sending a bottle on.

Of course, this made Riko angry and she hit him in the back of his head, making him jerk forward enough to lose his glasses down on his lap. "What was that, Junpei?!" She snarled at him, a demon Lucy so fondly recognized sprouting up in the brunette.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Hyuuga promised her quickly, not wanting any more damage to be done than that.

Lucy giggled at their liveliness. It was funny and familiar to her.

She only took a moment to do that though, before she put all the bags down on the empty seat next to Kuroko. Then she pulled the sandwiches up one at a time and handed them to Kuroko, so he could continue handing them down. "Here, send them on." She said.

In a matter of only a short while, everything'd been handed on down the line, the box put to the side and the bags thrown out. Only problem was, there was only one seat beside Kuroko left.

After a moment of consideration, Kagami motioned to the empty seat. "You take that one, Blondie. I'll take one of those behind." He said, referring to the pair of empty seat behind the one beside Kuroko and Kuroko's.

Lucy crossed her arms and shook her head. "Absolutely not, that's yours. I just came with you by chance." She said sternly.

"Bu-"

"Sit." Lucy demanded, when he tried to protest. And immediately, as if sensing the same demon inside Lucy as there was in Riko, he sat down on the empty seat. "That's better." She said, reverting back to her kind self.

However, just as she was about to head for the seat behind Kagami and Kuroko, she felt an arm circle around her waist. "You could always sit on my lap if you want." The husky voice of the owner told her in a low voice, which was probably supposed to be arousing or something. It wasn't, by the way.

She rolled her eyes and forced the guy's arm off. "No thank you, Haizaki." She said and moved out of his sudden embrace. "But nice to see you though." She said as she felt Seirin's unbelieving gazes at herself and Haizaki.

"I'm sure it is." Haizaki smirked confidently.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucy sighed, grabbed his wrist and pulled him down on the seat next to her. "Sit down." She ordered.

It was completely lost on him though. "Ooo~ You wanna hold hands in the dark, now?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Kagami began turning around in his seat, already thoroughly annoyed with that guy and about to tell him off, when the blonde girl simply smiled at the black haired guy. "Sure I will, Haizaki." She said sweetly, before taking such a tight grip around the guy's hand he had to turn into an awkward position in his seat to could even endure it.

"Let me go, goddamnit! That hurts like a bitch, you know!" Haizaki almost shrieked, making Kagami smile amusedly instead, shaking his head at the enigma of a blonde woman behind him.

Lucy easily let go of him and watched with mirth as he pulled the hand back to himself again. "That's what I thought." She said. And with the show over, many returned to the conversation they'd been doing just before. She leaned forward in her seat, towards the middle between herself, Kuroko, Kagami and Haizaki. "Kuroko, you know how Akashi's been chasing me around lately, right?" She asked him, watching from the corner of her eyes as Kagami nodded approvingly.

Kuroko nodded as well. "Yes, I know." He confirmed for her.

Haizaki leaned back, smirking. Seemingly having forgotten, or was just ignoring, the intense pain his hand had just endured. "Ha, so that was you? I thought it was some crazy murderer running after his prey." He laughed.

"Well, you're not completely off the mark." Kagami agreed.

Lucy shook her head at them. "Either way, I'm going to have a talk with him, because he's got a point, and you're all going to be there as well. I've been keeping some stuff to myself that needs to come out." She said, confirming Akashi's suspicion for Kuroko. All three guys remained silent though, and let her continue. "So Akashi or Nijimura are probably going to be calling or texting you sometime after the Winter Cup is over, and then I'll tell you all. Okay?" She asked, hoping to get the green lights from them.

"Wait… That shit sounded like you wanted me and that freaky eyebrow-guy there to come too?" Haizaki said, pointing to Kagami and himself. That made Kagami wake up as well.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah… I think you two should come as well. You've… Seen and felt enough to deserve to know." She agreed with herself. "So, Kuroko, since Nijimura and Akashi probably only have your number, please tell it to Kagami as well." She asked of him.

Kuroko nodded, while both of them were ignoring Kagami and Haizaki's protests. "Of course, Lucy." He agreed. "Whatever it is though, only tell us if you're ready." He said, silencing the other two guys.

"Don't worry, Kuroko. I am ready to tell you now, I think." She promised him. "It's long overdue anyway." She added.

With a single nod from Kuroko, the match began. To put it simply, the outcome of the match was obvious within the first quarter. Since Kaijo were missing their ace, Kise, because of his leg injury - which Haizaki both laughed and complained about, since he wanted to watch him be beaten to a pulp - there was no way for the blue team to do anything against Midorima's three pointers. Already at the end of the second half, Shutoku were leading with 21 points. Kaijo fought bravely and with all the spirit they had, however in the end, they couldn't really do anything and lost 54-96. A battle valiantly fought, but lost in the end.

It was a shame, but many, and even the team itself, had expected this outcome.

Alas, Lucy excused herself from Seirin and Haizaki to go and find the remaining people, who were left to know about the deal she'd made with Akashi.

 **I know, awkward ending. But it is one, at least.**

 **Yes, I also know that there is little to nothing about the match in this one, and it wasn't just because I am lazy, it's because the 'match' filled a half chapter in the manga, basically telling the same thing I did right there. And with me pressured on the time-front and not actually having the imagination to could present a proper, good match to all of you, this was what came out. Sorry.  
At least she has a lot of dialogue with a few interesting characters in this one, eh? Mary even made an appearance again. **

**Well, either way… Thanks for reading, following, favoriting and, of course, reviewing! Keep it up and we'll see if I can update the next chapter on time instead of twenty minutes late! XD**

 **~Line464d**


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63**

 **So.. As you will notice, I have indeed changed around on things regarding the GMG, just so things fit me better ^-^ Nothing too mayor, I believe.**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own the characters and stuff in any capacity. Sowwy~**

 **Earthland~**

Days really got long and frustrating when all you could do was watching your friends and family fighting. Especially when you couldn't do anything but cheer for them and tell them to keep going.

There was one _very_ big highlight of the day though. Or, well… There were three really, but the first two were the ones which really made an impression. Mainly because Fairy Tail completely aced the day, as they had promised to the day prior.

The event of the day was called 'Pandemonium', the contestants being Hibiki from Pegasus, Nobarly from Quatro, Obra from Raven, Jura from Lamia, Millianna - they found - from Mermaid, Orga from Sabertooth, Cana from B-team - a substitution for "Mystogan", who had disappeared - and Erza from A-team.

Basically, the game this time around was that 100 monsters of different classes resided inside a castle-like building, which turned up suddenly. A lot of the lowest class demons and only one of the highest. Of course, the higher the class, the more points it gave for its defeat.

In an order decided by drawing numbers, the contestants would, one at a time, choose the number of monsters they'd be up against, the classes of these chosen at random. If they were to fail to defeat the monsters they'd chosen, they'd lose the points they'd gathered that round. So it was all about not biting off more than they could chew.

Erza was the first to go. Erza didn't go easy on anything or anyone. Erza chose all 100 monsters.

And Erza beat them all.

To say Fairy Tail were cheering in pride afterwards would be the understatement of the year, even if they had expected that kind of outcome from the redheaded mage. Of course, the crowd, the other guilds and the commentators were as flabbergasted with the win as they were her decision to take them all on at once.

And as Erza had taken everything own, they had to find some other method of placing the remaining seven combatants. The solution was a magic power measuring device used by the Rune Knights during initiation. It was a perfect choice, since Lahar was the guest judge for the day and could compare the scores with what the Rune Knight generally had and needed to be initiated.

Of course, all of them would pass the test - magnificently for some - should they decide to try that line of work out. Well… All except Obra, who didn't seem to care for his placement in the slightest and just settled for a score of 4 measly points.

Third to last was Orga from Sabertooth. Apparently he was of the conviction that he didn't need to give very much of himself to win this. Of course, he did also get more than ten times the amount Millianna, the one at the lead at the time, however… He seemed to have forgotten Jura was one of the 10 Wizard Saints. Or maybe he just thought himself stronger still.

Obviously that definitely wasn't the case. Especially since Jura wasn't arrogant like the God Slayer was, or the type to hold back in situations like these. So with an overwhelming lead of double the score Orga had, Jura now had the reigns with more than 8500 points.

Last but not least was Cana, who was to try her luck with the device. What no one but the Tenrou crew knew, the brunette now had the power bestowed on her by Mavis herself, Fairy Glitter. And it was not to be underestimated.

This was also further proved when said brunette went ahead and broke the device with a score beyond 10.000, easily giving Fairy Tail both the first and second place in this day's event. Overall enough to make anyone's day, really.

Buuuuut of course that wasn't all the day had in store for them. Now came the matches.

First up was Toby Horhorta versus Kurohebi, Lamia versus Raven. Or in this case dog versus snake. As it would turn out, this day was all about bets and so they started out with a secret for a real name. Kurohebi won, alas Toby told his secret - that he couldn't find a sock. The one he had around his neck.

Showing his true colors, having been a formerly dark guild, Kurohebi first pointed out where it was, only to tear it to pieces right in front of the bawling dog-guy.

The following match was yet another stroke of pride for Fairy Tail. Elfman versus Bacchus Groh, a substitute for Warcry - who had been fried by Orga the other day - an S-class from Quatro Cerberus. Right off the bat, the bet was set. If Bacchus won, he'd 'borrow' the two Strauss sisters for a night, effectively infuriating Elfman.

Though the match seemed to last forever, with the two pretty evenly matched, it did have an end. Elfman, guided by his fury and protectiveness towards his two siblings, managed to just barely defeat the other guy.

Alas, Quatro Cerberus was to be called 'Quatro Puppy' for the rest of the games, Elfman's orders.

Following the incredibly intense match, was one between Mira and Jenny Realight from Pegasus. Apparently those two were rivals on being on the front page of Sorcerer's Weekly. And as especially Jenny sought to humiliate Mira, the bet was that the losing side would run around the Domus Flau naked.

More than 90 percent of the match went with a 'costume competition', which in the end brought out almost all of the guilds to join in. The last minute or so, Mira transformed into one of her stronger Demon Take-Overs and just knocked the blonde out with a single hit. Yet another win for Fairy Tail.

And at the end, the matches finished off with the only girl of Sabertooth, who had stood out to Lucy, Yukino Agria versus Kagura Mikazuchi, a swordswoman from Mermaid.

As was the norm of Sabertooth it seemed, Yukino also turned out to be quite cocky. This showed in the bet she suggested - a bet on their life. The worst part about it all was that, just like Orga, she found herself easily overwhelmed by Kagura's impeccable swordsmanship. And with that, the day was concluded.

The blonde found out what had drawn her attention to Yukino though. Turned out she was a Celestial mage as well.

It was probably impossible, but she kind of wanted to talk to her. What kind of Celestial mage was she? What kind of Spirits did she have? Did she go to Earth too? Was she in Japan as well?

Most likely she wouldn't be getting many answers to her questions, seeing as they were pretty much enemies right now.

As it was, she was headed out to play her favorite game with Natsu, who was out to get the ball. She really wanted to try out the Miracle's techniques. See if she could learn them - on a smaller scale. Well, at least she could try, after all she could only get better from it.

However she didn't quite get that far. "Ohh, look~ That's the weak, little Fairy Trash Blondie!" She heard a certain blonde Dragon Slayer say behind her. "Pretty pathetic display you showed us yesterday. Guess you know how to bark, but not how to bite." He taunted, coming to a stop as she did.

She slowly turned around at her heels, not at all in the mood for that guy. She had just had Akashi following her around like some creepy stalker, surely Sting wouldn't be doing the same thing now. She honestly didn't know what she would do if he did.

Alas, she sent the other smirking guy who - as always - was accompanied by his twin, and a pair of cats, an annoyed glare. "You're more blonde than I am." She retorted, loving how he seemed to explode on the inside at that. "Besides, I never once said I was the strongest fighter on the team." She reminded him, hoping to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"No, that much was made clear. I really hope for your sake no one else sucks as much as you do." He shot back at her, clearly wanting this conversation to continue.

"Yeah! Sting's the greatest!" The red Exceed exclaimed, a paw raised in a thumbs up, as the frog-costume wearing other Exceed nodded in agreement from above Rogue - who seemed to be mute.

Lucy crossed her arms under her chest and sent the blonde, who was grinning at the red cat, a look that said she was thoroughly done with this conversation. "I really don't care for your opinion of me, Sting." She told him, truly trying to convey that she just wanted him to leave her alone.

The red cat put his paws on his hips. "That's 'the Great Sting Eucliffe' to you, Fairy Trash." He told her sternly.

Lucy turned her gaze down to the dark red Exceed. "Neither do I yours, _cat_." She said, stressing the 'cat', knowing it'd either tick it off, and if not, it probably would Sting.

And as expected, it did. "Hey, you weak bitch, don't talk like that to Lector!" He just barely managed to not yell at her. The desired reaction, which told her that this Dragon Slayer also loved his Exceed, and that Rogue probably did too.

Rogue, seeing how his Twin's anger was flaring, put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down again. "Do not let her get to you, Sting." He muttered, barely loud enough for all of them to hear.

The pink clad Exceed nodded. "Fro thinks so too." It declared, seemingly speaking in third-person.

Sting's angry expression morphed back into a smirk. "Right, I shouldn't let such a whorish, weak Blondie rile me up like that." He agreed, clearly knowing how to hit her nerves.

And now, he had done it one too many times for her to just keep silent. "You know what?" She spat angrily, taking what she hoped was a threatening step towards him. "I'd really like to have seen you in my situation, douchebag." She sneered.

The White Dragon layer's smirk only widened. "What? Me? I'd never get into such a pathetic situation in the first place." He grinned, pointedly leaning down towards her. "I'd have dealt with that hair-freak before she would even have the chance to touch me." He taunted her.

Lucy's glare intensified. "Yeah?" She asked challengingly. "Even if Lector was threatened to be burned beyond recognition?" She asked, thinking of the strand Flare had sent near Asuka.

This made the blonde guy furrow his eyebrows. "What are you even talking about, Blondie?" He asked, as if she was stupid.

This made her grin, knowing how to irritate the guy further. "You're a pathetic Dragon Slayer, if you don't know. Natsu seemed to have heard me just fine." She said with what could only be called a smug expression.

And while she reveled in having successfully pissed Sting off, Rogue seemed to have come to a realization. "'Asuka'… Was it?" He inquired.

When she nodded, a light turned on in Sting's head. "Oh, you mean that snot-nosed brat your Spirit-thing saved from the hair or whatever?" He asked.

Lucy's glare settled on Sting again. Why did no one realize Spirit were no different from themselves? "Yes, that's what I'm talking about, _Blondie_." She confirmed, sneering the nickname Kagami'd given her. It really did change in meaning depending on who used it, she found.

The blonde guy crossed his arms and huffed. "Like I'd let something like that fool me, unlike you." He grunted arrogantly.

Rogue, however, didn't catch the hint, or just didn't care. "He'd freak out." He stated. Whether it was to bring the truth out on the table or to irritate Sting, she didn't know.

Sting glared at his twin. "Rogue!" He exclaimed.

Lucy sighed and shook her head, having gotten irritated with Sting's loud voice. "Thought so. Now, if you wouldn't mind, please leave me alone." She said as she turned around and continued towards the court.

This made Sting snort in laughter. "Even so, I'd be able to defeat her in the end, unlike you, Fairy Trash." He called out after her, aiming to rile her up again. Without luck.

She knew that was his aim, of course, and simply, nonchalantly waved to them over her shoulder. "Sure you would. But also if your magic was cancelled?" she asked, leaving them to think about that as she finally left them.

She let her shoulder sag as the tension left her again, thinking about the relaxing and hopefully challenging, little game ahead of her.

All day. She had wanted all day to could play that one game she was actually good at. Now, finally, she would get the chance to. Hopefully without any other distractions to pull her away from it.

Pretty awesomely timed, Natsu appeared with the desired ball and a grin on his face as she reached the outside court she'd been playing at the other day. "Hey, Luce! Ready to be beat?!" He asked her excitedly.

She smiled at him, letting her little bout with Sting fade away from her memory. "Well, you can try." She replied, almost already having fun with him. It'd been a while, what with all the 'waking up from the dead' and the preparation to the Grand Magic Games, there'd just not been much time for having some easy fun with her team, and most of all her best friend and partner. Plus his Exceed.

Happy gracefully glided through the air and landed on top of her head on his stomach, his paws spread out and his wings hugging her face as his tail dipped down in front of her eyes. "I've got her, Natsu!" He told the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu chuckled. "Good job, Happy!" He said, before setting into motion towards the net, knowing Lucy wouldn't be going as fast or dare as much with Happy on her head.

"Hey! That's cheating!" She said, before following after Natsu, though with a speed that wouldn't blow Happy off. Finding she'd never be able to catch up with the pinkette in time, she put a hand down over Happy to keep him on her head. "Ha!" She said and sped up.

But the blue Exceed wouldn't have any of it. So he spread his wings out wide and lifted the both of them into the air. "Go Natsu! I've got your back!" He promised the pinkette, while the blonde shrieked as her feet left the ground, putting her other hand over Happy too, to make sure he'd be staying on her head.

Natsu laughed, seeing the blonde woman, who was suddenly up in the air, flailing her legs around and ordering the cat to put her down in a panic. "Nice idea, buddy!" He said, before jumping up and easily dunking the ball in, so he could give Happy a thumbs-up.

Happy was 'struggling' though. "Ugh… Lushy, you're too heavy~!" He complained, as usual.

Lucy froze in her flailing as Happy calmly flew around in circles above the court. "Happy… Don't you dare drop me now." She told him, afraid of what his words meant.

"Buuuut~!" He complained while getting a smug expression neither Lucy nor Natsu could see. "I don't think I can hold on much longer!" He warned her, letting his paws slip in her hair.

And just like that.. Happy's paws slipped from Lucy's head. For a fraction of a second, every thought stopped for Lucy. In her silent mind, she knew that she'd fall when this little eternity was over. She would rush through the air and she would get hurt.

The eternity halted in a flash and she screamed her lungs out, feeling the wind pass through her clothes and past her skin. She could just look up to see Happy getting smaller the further she fell. Instinctively, she closed her eyes when she knew she was close to the ground.

The splat that would have once been Lucy never happened though, instead she crashed right into Natsu, who was only semi-prepared for her sudden fall, and the both of them tumbled to the ground in grunts of pain.

"Oops." Happy giggled from up in the air.

Lucy opened her eyes and glared up at the cat in question. He had deliberately dropped her right on top of Natsu. She didn't know why, but she knew he did. "Damn you, Happy!" She groaned. Yes, her landing had been softened considerably, but it was still awkward.

She turned her head when she heard Natsu bark out a laugh. "Got my back, huh?" He barely whispered, before jumping up to his feet, grinning his trademark grin down at Lucy. "I got'cha, Luce." He said, offering her a hand to get up.

While Happy had landed on top of the backboard of the net and was rolling around in laughter, the blonde gave her friend a smile, accepting his help. "Thanks Natsu, you probably saved me there." She said. Though, that was as far as her kindness reached. She picked up the familiar, orange ball and fired it off - somewhat gently - at the laughing Exceed, effectively knocking him down from the pedestal he was on, which was the backboard. "No thanks to you, Happy!" She told him, watching as he easily caught himself with his wings spread out and a grin on his face.

"I regret nothing." He told her shamelessly.

The blonde Celestial mage was just about ready to chase the blue cat around, when a soft voice reached her. "Umm… Excuse me, Lucy Heartfilia. Can I talk with you?"

When Lucy turned her head, what she saw surprised her a great deal, to be honest. "Yukino!" She exclaimed in surprise, seeing the girl in strangely ordinary clothes, so much different from the white coat-like thing she'd been wearing earlier. The self-confident smile she'd been wearing since entering the arena was nowhere to be seen either.

The white-haired girl's eyes drifted to the Fire Dragon Slayer to see his whole body having tensed, ready for anything that might happen. Of course he didn't trust her in the slightest. "I… I'm sorry to intrude." She timidly said, encasing herself in her own arms.

The blonde Celestial mage frowned as she took in the other girl's reaction. Something was wrong. "Did something happen…?" She slowly asked as she took a few soft steps forward towards her.

Yukino visibly shivered, not because it was cold, but because of her most recent experiences. "Y-yes.. You could say that." She stammered uncertainly. She had decided to do this, she knew her only friends deserved this, but…

Natsu, catching onto the mood around the Sabertooth girl also furrowed his eyebrows. "Are ya cold?" He asked her, referring to the shiver. For once, Happy just remained a silent observer.

"No. Thank you." She slowly replied, looking up again, at the other Celestial mage. "I'm very sorry to have interrupted you two." She quickly apologized again.

Lucy shook her head and kept approaching the girl, who was obviously distraught. "Don't worry about that. Would you mind telling me what's wrong? - Maybe I could help." She offered. If it was something about Earth that got her like this, then there probably weren't many other than Lucy, who would be able to fully understand it.

"Well…." The white haired girl trailed off, almost shyly. "I.. I, uhm… I was… Excommunicated from.. Sabertooth." She said, her voice turning to a whisper in the end. They all heard her well though.

Lucy gasped loudly. "Oh my god.." She remembered the briefing they'd gotten about Sabertooth. In it, they'd been told of how Sabertooth treated their members, including at the occasions, where their members were kicked out. Whether male or female, they were to strip down right in front of Jiemma, the guild master, while the whole guild was watching. And they were to stand naked, while they were told never to return. A piece playing in the part of riling them all up.

The blonde's eyes softened, and she now understood why the poor girl was trembling and so hesitant to speak her mind. It was obvious. Anyone would be.

And with the sudden realization, she hurried to the girl her age and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm so sorry, Yukino. You don't have to say anything else." She promised her, clutching the poor girl. The sudden affection also seemed to tip the other girl over the edge of her ability to hold back her emotions, and they both began tearing up. "If you want, I know Master would let you stay with us at Fairy Tail."

"… What?" Natsu asked behind them. None wanted to let the other go or answer him though. Instead they heard Happy take the initiative and quite loudly whispering the circumstances to his friend. When he was done, Natsu was already growling angrily. "Don't worry, Yukino. I'll get your revenge." He said and charged off. He gave her a small pat on the shoulder as he passed, already in a furious run even Lucy would be having a hard time catching up to. Happy was used to it though, so he kept up easily.

"N-Natsu!" Yukino called out after him, and tried to pull herself loose in an attempt to catch up to Natsu, who was barely anything more than a little, blurry spot in the distance.

Lucy shook her head. "He'll be fine. He always is." She reassured the other girl, though she herself was also worried for him. Pulling away a little, the blonde turned Yukino's face to her and gently wiped the tears under her eyes. "I'm sorry for what you had to go through, Yukino. If there is anything I can do for you, please tell me." She told the girl and gently stroke her arm.

Yukino took a deep sigh, gripping the little pouch at her side. "There's… There's actually one thing you can do, Lucy." She said somewhat hesitantly. With slow movements, she unclasped the little pouch from her hip and raised it, running her thumb tenderly over the brown leather. "I… I want you to have these." She said and almost unwillingly pushed the pouch in Lucy's direction.

The blonde had a guess about what the girl wanted from her, but she wasn't about to assume anything. Gingerly, she opened the lid of the pouch and saw the metal objects in it. She immediately pushed it back to Yukino. "I'm sorry, but I just can't take these." She told her firmly. On this, she would not budge.

"Please, Lucy. Please take care of my friends for me." She said, pushing it back to the blonde, tearing up again at the thought of losing her beloved Spirits like this. It was unbearable, but necessary.

Lucy quickly managed the pouch in the other girl's hands and placed her own on the other Celestial mage's shoulders sternly, giving her a hard look. "Don't ever give up on your Spirits so easily, Yukino. I can see you love them, they're your friends and they will and can help you with anything if you let them." She told her.

The white haired mage caved in and sank to her knees, desperately clutching her Spirits to her chest as tears welled out of her eyes in steady rivers. "I-I'm… If only… If only I could stay wi-" Lucy reacted quickly and put her hand to the girl's mouth, knowing where she was going with that.

When she got a confused look, she remembered Yukino probably didn't know the same things she did and explained. "Yukino, don't ever say that if you aren't one hundred percent sure that's what you want. You have to promise me that." She said and carefully removed her hand from the girl's mouth.

Said girl looked at the blonde, even more confused and a little worried about her reaction. "Why? How do you know what I wanted to say?" She asked.

Lucy sighed and sat down on the ground next to the girl, knowing this'd be a very long conversation. "You were about to wish to stay with the people of that other world, right?" She asked, observing from the girl's reaction she was right.

The former Sabertooth mage slowly nodded. "Yeah… That was exactly what I was going to say… How did you..?" She trailed off.

The Fairy Tail mage smiled gently. "That world, I'm not sure you know, but it's called 'Earth'. I'm sure you noticed it's a world without magic and quite different from ours in general." Seeing the girl was still shocked and confused, she nodded towards the basketball. "Basketball is from that world." She said.

Yukino took a moment to think, then realization hit. "Basketball, the game of Spirits… You were the one who introduced it, right? But then…" She didn't have to say anything more, Lucy knew what she was going to say.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, I frequent Earth too." She smiled as she made the other girl giggle. "There's a lot I need to tell you though… Do you have time now?" She asked.

The white haired girl nodded. "Yeah, I do."

 **So with that, I can imagine you guys can imagine what's gonna go down.  
Alas, my week has been a busy one, with a funeral, a birthday and school, and so the chapter didn't get quite as long as I had hoped. But it's fine. It's here and it has some stuff filled into it. You can take it all however you want. **

**At any rate, I hope you enjoyed it all! And I'll see to it I reply to your reviews this week, I just need to get back into it somehow - create a habit! Do know I read and appreciate every single one of them though. I really do.**

 **Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, followed and favorited! As per usual, you should know my eternal love directed at you~**

 **~Line464d**


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64**

 **Back at Earth again! This chapter will be a little different than the others, I can promise you that!  
And also! Welcome to December, and Christmas to those of you who celebrate it! To everyone else, merry December XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yup, neither Kuroko no Basuke or Fairy Tail belong to me in the slightest. **

**Earth~**

Slowly, the blonde stirred awake but kept lying down as she let her senses return to her. The place she was in was so quiet she knew she wasn't outside, as no wind was blowing, no rustling of leaves, no nothing, or anywhere near the Winter Cup stadium. She'd have heard the noise of people if she did, even if it was the cafeteria. Which probably meant she was at a private home, in which no one were present. If she had to take a guess, she'd say she was at her grandparents'… Well, grandmother's it was now…

With a deep, content sigh, she opened her eyes, fully expecting to be met with the sight of the warm, brown color of the Shirogane house's ceiling. But what she saw was widely different. It was a light, sand-colored brown, wooden ceiling she was looking up at. She wasn't at the Shirogane's.

She quickly realized she was on the floor as the corner of a table entered her field of vision. She sat up and looked around at her surroundings. She immediately furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of everything. The clean, modernistic furniture put together in a kitchen-and-living-room mixture… She hadn't ever seen it before. It wasn't cozy and nice like the Shirogane's, but it wasn't as cold and hard as Akashi's was… Where was she?

She slowly rose to her feet, looking around as she tried to figure out where she was. While it wasn't dirty here, it wasn't really cleaned up either. Used clothes and a dirty towel were thrown over the back of a chair, different magazines - mostly concerning basketball it seemed - were strewn over the low table at the black, leather chaise longue sofa and on it. The one who lived here didn't seem to have had enough time to clean up after breakfast either and had just placed it in the sink.

Though, while this was all great and all, it didn't tell her anything about who lived here. There was not a single picture to personalize the apartment room, it could quite literally be any person she had met the last few weeks - though it seemed to be a guy judging from the shoe-sizes at the entrance and the clothes hanging over the chair.

There were doors leading to either the bathroom or the bedroom on either side of the apartment and yet another door leading out to what seemed to be a little balcony, from which you could see a part of the city. It was just barely wide enough for a little chair, though there were none.

It would be wrong of her to enter this person's bedroom, that was for sure. Of course, it was already rude of her to even be trespassing in the person's home… But she knew she popped up in this place for a reason. She just hoped it wasn't someone like Imayoshi's she was at… He was too perceptive… Too sharp. He'd been suspicious of her relationship with Aomine and Momoi right from the beginning.

Fighting down a shudder at the thought, she moved towards the balcony door, opening it to let fresh air in. Surely, whoever it was wouldn't mind her doing a bit of cleaning around here. Such as airing out and brushing off dust, it sort of needed it. And it'd give her a chance to get some hints as to whose home she'd broken into.

So, to keep herself occupied, she went to the kitchen-area and grabbed a cloth, wringing it out over the sink, before getting to work. It was always oddly relaxing to run around cleaning like this, and doing it again reminded her of how long ago it was that she had done this last in her own apartment. She hadn't been home at all since returning from Tenrou and hadn't had the time to clean up at all… There would probably be a centimeter-thick layer of dust there when the Grand Magic Games were over.

As usual when doing this kind of domestic work, her thoughts strayed back to the conversation she'd had with Yukino just a little while ago. She had told the girl everything she knew about their little trips to Earth. Hers didn't seem to have started all that long ago, apparently. As it turned out, she'd landed in between all the famous people running around in America. Even Lucy had heard some of the names she mentioned during her short stays at Earth, where she was doing all kinds of other things. Well… Mostly it was Momoi's friends and the other girls at Teiko, and wherever else she may have been, either talking about a celebrity-crush or how much they hated someone and the like.

It really was big names she surrounded herself with; Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande. That kind of big. Though it was quite cool to know you had a friend who'd eventually grown some kind of bonds with these people, unfortunately it would in all likelihood also mean they wouldn't be meeting up much. Well, maybe that was for the best too.

Apparently, her task had something to do with 'career' and 'back'. Quite vague, but she'd hopefully figure it out eventually, whatever it was.

Of course, other than telling her what those words meant, why she was even going there and for how long the option was there, she also explained the consequences that might follow with each decision. How she either had to wait it out or complete her little 'mission', to just remain on Earthland. If she wanted to be at Earth, she would have to say that out loud, as if talking to the Spirits themselves. Though that would also mean a sped up death. Either way, one circle of friends would become out of her reach.

That and she also advised her newfound friend to tell the earthlings about her own origin sooner rather than later, so that she didn't end in the same problem Lucy had, where lying was easier than just telling the truth.

It was a nice chat, and since Natsu was off to cause a ruckus in Sabertooth, she and Yukino played a bit of basketball until it got late and they waved goodbye, both with a hope of seeing each other again soon.

A lot happened these days, that was for sure. It was also typical it all came together at the same time. So like life to treat her like that.

Lucy had cleaned up a good portion of this mystery person's home, put the magazines neatly on the table in a fan-like construction, cleaned the dishes in the sink, put the towel on a hanger in the bathroom, where she also found a basket for dirty clothes, in which the used clothes on the chair ended up. On the edge, so the person himself could decide whether they were good to go for another day, of course. She'd gotten rid of a lot of dust and was now - at a lack of anything else to do to pass time - watering the few plants there.

And finally, she heard something else than her own humming. "I'm sorry, I haven't exactly cleaned up recently." She heard a distinctively familiar voice tell the other people he was with as they all approached the apartment she was in.

"Don't care, just let us in." A hard voice told the first one, already impatient.

The first person - she guessed - sighed and put the key in the lock, turning it, while a faint chatter could be heard behind him. Probably the army that had followed him.

The door was pushed open rather slowly, and with the tall redhead she recognized to be Kagami turned towards his teammates, gesturing to the room in which the blonde currently resided. "See?" He asked, turning his head. "I told yo-" His voice dropped in volume when his eyes met hers. "Blondie?"

She smiled and waved. "Hello, Kagami, everyone." She said, almost not able to keep her amusement in at his gaping expression, while everyone behind him went into a unified exclamation of surprise.

"Oh, Lucy." Kuroko said, his expression cam and normal. "Good to see you are here too." He commented, not addressing the question of why she was in the first place.

"What the.." Hyuuga commented, getting an agreeing nod from Teppei.

Kagami, as the only one, actually noticed the strangely non-caring reaction Kuroko had to the blonde being there. "Why the hell are you acting as if this is normal?!" He asked the little blue haired guy as he tried to figure out ways for the blonde to even get in here.

Kuroko simply shrugged. "Because it _is_ normal. For her." He curtly explained, as if that was supposed to make any sense to the rest of them. With this, he moved out of the big group of people who still hadn't moved an inch from the entrance.

The blonde smiled at the blue haired guy, then turned to the one whose home she'd unwillingly barged into. "Sorry for intruding, Kagami, and welcome home. I hope you don't mind my having cleaned up a little?" She asked, doing what she could to save the situation. Soon enough, he'd understand what was going on, it just wasn't today.

He zoned out for a moment, as the others - though still a little confused with her unexpected appearance - filled up the apartment room. "Uhh…. Yeah… Thanks I guess." He said, scratching the back of his head in the universal sign of confusion.

She nodded, keeping the smile on her face, and went to empty the can she had used to water the plants with in the kitchen, putting it down and turning to Kuroko, who she had noticed approaching her. "So, what's going on, Tetsuya?" She asked, both wanting to know why she was here and using the opportunity to see if he would react with that form for address.

He didn't react strangely, alas those were the green lights for her. "I have decided it would be for the best that everyone knows about Akashi and what he can do." He told her, making her eyes widen. "It is a good thing you showed up here as well." He said.

She nodded absently. So she was finally going to get the full story of what happened during her absence. Finally, she was going to get the answers she'd been seeking for so, so long now. Maybe she'd come to more of an understanding why things turned out as they did.

"Well, in that case I'm glad I'm here." She replied. And now she also understood why she was.

The sound of murmuring was broken by a deafeningly loud growl. All heads turned to Koganei, the cat-faced guy, who looked thoroughly flustered. "Uh… Guess I'm a bit hungry." He hesitantly said, adding a shaky laugh.

Hyuuga nodded. "Yeah, and he's not the only one." He stated before turning his head in Kagami's direction. "Got some grub for all of us?" He asked. Riko put her hands on her hips and gave the captain of the Seirin team a sharp look, silently telling him to mind his manners. He rolled his eyes and grunted in irritation. "Right, pardon me. Hast thou any food for us, Mr. Kagami?" He joked.

Kagami shook his head in amusement as Riko delivered a pair of punches to the captain's head. "Sure, I'll make something up." He said.

Lucy shook her head and went into his path of the refrigerator, effectively stopping him. "No, let me do that. As an apology for trespassing." She said, her arms spread out wide in the effort of stopping him.

With a raised eyebrow, he got ready to protest that, but then dropped it, seeing her apologetic expression and the wish to make things up with something so little. Although she had made it up by cleaning, he wouldn't have done that before it got so much it was impossible to live in. He could almost see his reflection on the table-surface. "You don't want any help at all? We're quite a few people." He argued.

She shook her head, a smile on her face. "Don't worry about that, I'm used to cooking for many mouths." She reassured him. Natsu could eat as much as half this team put together. So yeah, to say she was used to it was an understatement.

"All right then." He said, giving her a nod. "If there's anything you need, just call for me." He said and when he got a thumbs-up, he went and got himself settled backwards on one of his chairs, so he could rest his arms on the backrest and his head on his arms. "How about you just get started, Kuroko?" He asked his little shadow-friend. Maybe Sting and Rogue went with the same concept as Kagami and Kuroko? With the stronger the sharper the light, the stronger the shadow thing

As everyone got themselves settled around Kuroko on the remaining chairs, the couch, the floor or wherever they felt comfortable, the man found himself at the end of the little coffee-table by the couch. And only when everyone was done and looking at him expectantly did he speak. "Okay…" He said dramatically. "Everyone got better at basketball too quickly and dropped teamwork. The end." He said with a completely monotone expression, much like Virgo would.

A heavy silence lay around them all for a second, everyone looking at Kuroko incredulously. Did he seriously mean that? Or was he attempting a joke? It was hard to tell, but usually when Kuroko joked around, it'd be something like this… But then again, the topic didn't quite give much in the way of joking. But still… This was Kuroko.

While Kagami face palmed, Kiyoshi gave the guy a little, confused smile. "Would you maybe like to elaborate on that a little?" He suggested, clearly as uncertain how to react as the rest of the room.

Releasing a deep sigh, Kuroko nodded dejectedly. So he had been attempting a joke after all.. Oops. "Of course." He agreed while Lucy slowly began figuring out what she'd use from the ingredients she found in the fridge.

Carrots, tomato, salad, cucumber, red pepper… Lots of vegetables and not so much else… Hmm.. Maybe a Caesar-salad would do? He seemed to have chicken too, and she could make up a quick dressing with the sour cream, a pitch of lemon and some chives. Refreshing and delicious. And healthy. Probably a good choice for these sports-freaks. Yup, that's what she'd do. She just hoped Koganei and the others could survive a while longer.

She almost jumped out of her skin when a little hand touched her arm. Riko laughed surprisingly femininely. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. Just seems like you could use some help with all of this." She said and gestured to all the vegetables she had pulled out and was getting ready to cut.

"Hmm…" She hummed, rolling it over once in her mind. She had just rejected Kagami, but… Well, it was true there were a lot of vegetables here in need of cutting. Two pairs of hands were better than one, in this situation at least. So she nodded. "Sure, that would be wonderful, Riko." She said with a smile, which was returned by the other girl.

While Kagami grumbled about being rejected, Koganei turned to the two girls, his face growing pale. "Watch out, Lucy. Riko can't cook, even if her life depends on it!" He warned her.

"Hey!" Riko exclaimed and made a perfect headshot with a wooden spoon at the poor guy.

Lucy laughed reassuringly. "Don't worry, all she has to do is cut some vegetables." She assured them. Even Natsu could do that, and he couldn't cook in the slightest either. When she still got skeptical looks, she smiled. "I'll guide her through it, there really is nothing to worry about." And as expected, that calmed them down, enough to dare looking back at Kuroko.

"We're ready!" Hyuuga said, just putting more pressure on the poor guy, who all eyes were on at the moment. On top of that, the captain's expression exuded nothing if not 'start talking'.

Kuroko hesitated. "Um… It's rather difficult to talk with this kind of atmosphere…" He admitted, seemingly succumbing to the pressure.

The blonde mage heard the other girl sigh lowly next to her, before looking at them all over her shoulder. "Hey! This story's relevant to our final match tomorrow." She reminded them all. "Focus!"

Kiyoshi looked comfortably at the younger player. "Kuroko, did you start playing basketball in middle school?" He asked, trying to get a conversation going.

And it worked, of course. "No. I began playing in 5th grade…" He told them all. "I saw a match on TV and thought it looked interesting… There's nothing special about why I started."

Somehow, that was much more surprising than if something crazy had gotten him started.. It was so simple and plain.

Nonetheless, Kuroko continued as Lucy directed how Riko should cut the vegetables in a voice low enough to not disturb anyone. "There weren't any basketball clubs for kids in my neighborhood, so I went to a park that had an outdoor court to play basketball by myself." He explained. "But one day, a boy called out to me. We quickly became friends even though we went to different schools. Every day after class we would play basketball together until the sun went down." He said, a slight smile appearing at his lips. "He was also better than me, so he taught me many things. But in 6th grade, he had to move away. At that time we made a promise." He said and held a dramatic pause. "The promise that we would both join the basketball club at our middle schools and face each other on the court again someday."

"Huh…." Izuki mumbled. "I didn't know you knew a guy like that." He said. Of course, Lucy had been explained this story once, back when he had just joined the team. It was cute really. She just hoped he'd gotten the chance to play a good match with him.

"So…" One of the first years trailed off. "What happened? He's still playing basketball now, right?" He asked the question they all wanted to know.

Remaining silent for a short second, the question was answered. "No… He quit." Kuroko told them all, making Lucy's brows furrow together in confusion and worry. "And it was my fault." She heard him say, and looking up, she found regret swimming around in the little guy's bright, blue eyes. "I don't think that he will ever forgive me." He said, sharing a piece of his soul.

"Eh?" Koganei mumbled. "Why? What on Earth happened?!" He asked, clearly surprised with the sudden, sort of sad piece of information, like the rest of them.

"That has something to do with the story I mean to tell you now." He assured them all. "So.. I suppose I should start at the beginning." He said, keeping silent for a moment to figure out what he would start out with, probably. "Exactly a year after we made that promise, I joined Teiko and, just like my friend, went for the basketball club." He said, just as they had all expected he would. "As I'm sure you know, the team there is divided into three strings based on one's level at the game and it all started out with a test to do just that. As it was based your physical strength and skill at the game I ended up in the 3rd string." He said, completely living in the memories of those days. "Never once at that school had a first year jumped right ahead to the 1st string, but this year… There were four." He said dramatically.

Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara and Akashi.. Those were the ones who broke the record. Haizaki had been sent to the 2nd string, but moved up later, Kuroko's special style of playing was discovered even later and finally, Kise had joined in on their camp and jumped straight to the 1st string as well. That was where things had been, when she got stuck on Tenrou with everyone else.

It was amazing how silent everyone was as Kuroko completely immersed himself in the memories of three years ago. "Shintaro Midorima, Daiki Aomine, Atsushi Murasakibara and Seijuro Akashi." He named them all, not noticing the weird looks he got from the missing people there, not everyone knew Kise and Haizaki were late to the club. "Barely a week had passed before it was confirmed those four had made it to the regulars, another show of their skill. Right around then, rumors about an unknown, blonde girl having popped up among the regulars there began roaming around." He said, breaking out of his trance for a second to look up at the blonde girl in question.

She sent an encouraging smile right back to him. Yep, that was back when she had just showed up here on Earth and met Akashi, Midorima and later the rest of the team as well. At the time, only with those four first years and Nijimura. It was such a long time ago, a nostalgic smile made its way to her face all without her realizing it.

The blue haired guy quickly delved into his hypnosis again, diving back to the old days. "Soon again after that, Shogo Haizaki moved up from the 2nd string and went right to the regulars as well, rattling the entire basketball team, no matter which string." A sad look took over Kuroko's features. "Yet still… I had no success in moving up. My friend often sent me letters back then… When he told me he'd finally gotten his shirt, though he was still on the bench, I knew I had to do something, I just didn't know what." He said, and once again looked up to meet Lucy's eyes. "But then one day, when the 3rd string had been lucky enough to use the 1st string's gymnasium, after training was over, the strange, blonde girl showed up and watched as the last of training ebbed out." He said. Many eyes turned to her, also realizing that the one he was talking about was none other than the blonde making food for them right at this moment. Lucy smiled wider, remembering her first encounter with Kuroko quite clearly. "I had pulled out to take a break and would then help with cleaning afterwards- we had to clean the court if we used it - so I had a chance to talk to her. Well, when she noticed I was there. Either way, she inspired me to use the speed the others of the 3rd string used to clean and that I had too and my little presence to find a style that fit exactly me." He said.

When Kagami looked over at her with a 'not bad' expression, she winked and grinned, now realizing she'd done something incredibly important for Kuroko and proud to have been one to act as his muse.

"So… I began practicing even after practice was over, as the only one. For a long time, I was left undisturbed, but then I was suddenly interrupted by two people. Daiki Aomine and the blonde girl, Lucy Heartfilia." He said, yet another smile finding its way to his mouth. "From then on, I often practiced in the evenings with the two of them, and I felt I got better, but… I still didn't move up. As a matter of fact, I was among the lowest five… The coach even suggested I stop playing."

Lucy frowned as she tipped the piece of chicken over. He didn't tell her that… That he was advised to just give up. That could have only been a hard blow… She knew that if it had been herself in his position, she would have most likely listened to that person.

"Fortunately.. That day, I had planned to tell those two about what I'd been told, but also that I may have an idea of how I wanted to play. But then Akashi came by. He promised me, that if I could figure out how to use misdirection to my advantage in a game, he would see if he could find a spot for me on the team." He said, the words falling out of his mouth quickly one after another. Impressively enough, he didn't stumble at all. "From then, I worked harder than before to perfect my style of playing, misdirection, and when I was ready to try it off at one of the periodic tests, special arrangements were made for me to could use it properly. In a match-setup." He explained. "It was my only chance, and I passed it, joining the 1st string." He explained.

If she remembered correctly, he joined pretty close to the time they all went on the summer camp. That's where he worked out the small problems he'd had with passes.

"It was difficult, very difficult." He said. "The level was entirely different, I had a hard time even keeping up during practices and my passes didn't quite fit with them. With some time and some help, I got it figured out - I hadn't matched it to their speed, I was still matching it with the 3rd string's." He said. "Once I got that figured out… Things got easier, and I avoided being thrown off the team after all." He said and it was as if the whole room breathed out a sigh of relief, although they knew it was impossible. He was the Phantom Sixth man, after all.

Lucy finished the chicken and smiled to Riko appreciatively, as she had prepared plates for all the guys with nicely cut vegetables and all there was needed was the chicken and the dressing Lucy had made while waiting for the meat to be done to put on top and it was done. The two girls set the finishing touches on the plates as Kuroko continued.

"A month passed with various forms for matches and training and I was gradually getting used to it all, when it was decided we go on a training camp, with a guest joining us, who might be joining the team in the future. Kise Ryota. Which he then also did." He said with a wide smile. Well, for Kuroko that is. "The trip was one of the most fun I've ever been on, everyone was there, and we were having fun. I learned a lot, practiced a lot and got to know more about everyone." He said honestly, not noticing how Lucy was smiling as she finished the plates one after another as well. It really was a nice trip. "Unfortunately, it only lasted a short week." He said, his expression falling.

The blonde Celestial mage realized some of what was to come, just from that expression.. It was going to be hard to take, she'd have to brace herself. Giving a nod to Riko, she gave the sign to hand the plates out to the many people strewn around the room, while Kuroko simply continued.

"But then… Things changed. The first step towards the end was our support, the person, who constantly held us together, disappearing all of a sudden." Blue eyes met wide, brown ones. He was talking about her?

 **Unfortunately, I'll have to leave it off there. As it is getting late and the chapter long. Of course, this will be continued, we've just barely scratched the surface. As I'm sure you've noticed, I've changed quite a few things, namely the ones concerning Lucy. Since she doesn't exist in the cannon. But so far, it's basically just a recollection of what happened while Lucy was there that first year, so we know all of this. It's the next chapter the bomb will explode :P  
Sorry, you'll have to wait for that though. **

**At any rate, I hope you enjoyed even if it was a long chapter with a lot of heavy dialogue… Next one will probably be alike, but with the truth coming forth, of course.**

 **Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, favorited and followed! Keep it up!**

 **~ Line464d**


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65**

 **So many thanks for you guys' support on the subject of my project (it rhymed! XD), and your understanding in the delayed chapter. However! You shall wait no longer! For 'tis here! The chapter which took way too long to write! And is still way too short!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: As a matter of fact, no, I do not own either of the two stories/series I'm mixing up in this.**

 **Earth~**

He was… He was talking about her? She was the first step? Towards.. The end?

It was the same thing Akashi had implied when she met him again… That she was the cause of.. Well, them all splitting apart. Was Kuroko telling her the same thing? If he was... Then there wasn't much doubt her absence made it happen. She just wished it wasn't so.

Kuroko looked at the blonde with an almost apologetic look in his eyes. "Through you, we learned the importance of teamwork, Lucy, but a rift started spreading with your leave. As I am sure you figured already, especially Akashi was affected by this." He said, making her nod silently.

Of course he would have.. She had been the one he had shared the truth of his past and upbringing with. It was such a similar past, they couldn't help bonding over it. It was quite literally impossible not to. It seemed Akashi's father had had success with what hers had not, though.. Which was what currently set them apart.

"And it seems, unlike the rest of us, he blames you for a good portion of everything that happened." He told her, making her freeze mid-step - as she was still handing out plates.

He had said that, but… Could he still be blaming her even now? Or had they actually gotten it settled back then… Somehow she had the feeling the heterochromatic side of him hadn't, whereas his non-heterochromatic side might have. Or maybe he'd just said he did in order to please her feelings at the time. That wouldn't be unheard of either. Despite what he might look like at the moment, she knew he really was a kind guy. You just had to fish for it.

"To make matters worse.." He said, drawing the attention away from Lucy, who did everything she could to banish her thoughts in favor of listening to Kuroko wholly. "When the second year began, our captain, Shuzo Nijimura, resigned his title to Akashi, as he revealed that, should any news of his father's condition appear, he would abandon the match immediately. Which wouldn't be captain-material, according to him." He explained.

He had now succeeded in making Lucy's thoughts disappear and her focus return to him alone. So things didn't start out with his dad being sent to America, he was already in an unstable condition back then?

"As you might have figured out..." The little, blue haired guy continued, once again directing his attention on everyone present, not just her. "This situation did nothing to stop Akashi from the path he was going down." He stated.

The blonde nodded faintly. While she didn't doubt Akashi was the perfect one for the job, she couldn't imagine anything else, but him having been pressured by his father at home as well. He had probably had so much pressure all around… And if he was disappointed or mad at her for leaving, that anger may have just taken root then, instead of just being a fleeting emotion. And… 'Power twists people'… Her own father and his were perfect examples of this. Him being like his father wouldn't be much of a surprise either. It would explain how he'd come to the point he was now.. Though she knew there was a lot to fit in between still.

"Simultaneously, the relationship between Haizaki and Kise got worse and worse, seeing as they both have the same position and, most of all, same ability. Naturally, they would clash." Kuroko continued, not paying any attention to the blonde, whose thoughts were currently swirling around like a whirlwind. "With this, Akashi made his first move as captain - kicking Haizaki off the team." With this comment, quite a few eyebrows raised way up the Seirin member's foreheads. "Basically because Kise had a much bigger potential than Haizaki, and because he had a chance of reaching it, seeing as he actually attended practice." He continued, getting a snort from Kagami. "Of course, they didn't tell us that, they just told us he'd chosen to quit."

Lucy sighed, having placed the last serving of food by Kagami, getting a nod of appreciation, before she sat down with her back to the kitchen-desks, not really feeling much like eating right now. She knew all of this already, of course, so it didn't come as a surprise to her. She did however know that much of what Kuroko would be telling her, would come as a surprise and that she'd probably want to sit down as she received it.

"At this time, the 'Generation of Miracles', as they had been dubbed around that time, were growing in skill. And just like with Haizaki and Kise, small cracks began appearing in the relationships between the players." He said, making Lucy's ears tune in on him, even more than they already were. "Midorima and Murasakibara, for example, always disagreed on everything; Murasakibara because he doesn't really put much work into what he does, whereas Midorima always puts all of himself into practice, before doing something. Things like that popped up more frequently…" He said, trailing off. "Well, it was still at a small scale then, so we figured it out, but it should have been a hint at where things were going, though we didn't see it at the time."

She could almost read in Kuroko's expression, that he had fought to keep them together however he could. Trying to step in and be the 'glue' she had apparently been. It just made her want to apologize even more, but it also warmed her heart in a strange way to know she had meant so much to these young boys.

"It didn't change the fact that we were all getting better at the game, growing stronger much faster than the other teams could follow. We won every single match, and without much trouble either." He said, but there was no happiness at the notion on his face. It was completely blank. "But with every match won, the motivation to play the games dwindled. So to keep that up, a new rule was set into motion. Every game, those five would have to score 20 points each." He explained, the discomfort with it clear to see.

Her eyes couldn't help widening just a fraction at that. To think they'd be so many levels above others, they'd have to set something like that in to keep the motivation to play going…. She just had a feeling that little rule would grow in size sometime along the way.

"But there was one, who hit the growth spurt before anyone else, Aomine." He said quite suddenly.

Even back when Lucy was with them, she had seen the barest hints of Aomine getting much better, though it didn't seem to be on the scale Kuroko was referring to.

"He grew much more much faster than anyone had expected, even himself. He beat every single opponent with next to no difficulty, even those he'd gone toe-to-toe with the previous year." He said, his expression dropping even further. "Eventually, he began skipping practice." He said.

Lucy sighed lightly, remembering how she'd found him on the roof of his academy back then. So this was when everything started, huh? She couldn't clearly relate to his problem, but she did probably have an idea of, how that must feel. Lonely, for one. Especially because he loved the game so much - and probably still does.

"I tried talking to him, as I was adviced by my friend, Ogiwara Shigehiro, and... Well, it helped until he met a rival from the earlier year in a game and completely demolished him to the point of not trying any longer." He slowly explained. "So.. To keep having a challenge during games, he couldn't become better. Not even Shirogane-san, the head coach, could convince him that he'd meet a strong rival one day." He said, looking up at Kagami, the rival Kozo had been telling him about.

Meanwhile, the blonde fought a battle with the aching feeling in her heart at the mention of her grandfather. She was, however, happy to know he had kept an eye on the boys even after she was gone. Looking over at Kagami, she saw he was listening with rapt attention, completely immersed in the story as well.

"We more or less breezed right through the Nationals that year, and then it was time for the 3rd years to graduate." He told them. "It was that very day too that Shirogane-san collapsed." He said, bringing out shocked gasp-like grunts from some of the people there.

Lucy just settled with her eyes widening a fraction. Nijimura had graduated? Wasn't he forced to go to America because if his dad? Well... That must've been sometime shortly after then. And to think Kozo had collapsed right then... Such bad timing.

"The third year was the worst." Kuroko bluntly told them, easily regaining any attention he'd lost. "Without the support of our former captain or even the head coach while every one of them began their growth spurt, there wasn't much keeping anything holding together." He said, absently drawing his knee up to his chest with a faraway look in his eyes. "The new head coach was told to always have the Miracles playing in each and every match, and couldn't give Aomine a break to sort things out or anything."

More than anyone, Aomine was the one who needed those breaks from matches the most. He loved basketball more than anyone else, but having him out, playing against players who couldn't at all compare with his abilities... he would get disappointed every time.

"Especially now the Uncrowned Kings had graduated, the difference between Teiko and anyone else was too clear, too disheartening for him to handle." He said. Those Uncrowned Kings had probably been the only ones who could even hope to handle one of the Miracles then. "So all the head coach could think of, was to allow Aomine to skip practice, as long as he showed up for the matches."

Sanada had without doubt been the one to become head coach after Kozo. He knew, courtesy of Kozo in all likelihood, that this kind of treatment would only harm Aomine, even if his skills at the game remainwd the same, or even got better. He'd know this for sure... Was the pressure on him really that great?

"But with the others having entered something alike what Aomine did in the second year, though not as much, it left only me and Akashi, who didn't have any special skills like the others did at the time." He continued, staring blankly ahead of him in what seemed to be a clear memory. "Murasakibara asked Akashi if he could also skip practice like Aomine, but Akashi refused."

The blonde had a strong feeling that this was when things took a turn for the worse for Akashi.

"Murasakibara proceeds to point out, that he had only been listening to Akashi, because he knew he couldn't beat the redhead, but now, when he was the strongest, he wasn't about to listen to him." Kuroko said, the words welling out of him as if they'd been waiting to forever. "Akashi decided to promise be him wrong and deal with this disobedience through a one-on-one match between the two of them, first to get five points wins." He continued.

The young redhead's pride had been hit, no doubt, with the remark coming from Murasakibara. He was top scorer in everything, and that included basketball - that was probably what went through his head back then.

"He either vastly underestimated Murasakibara, or vastly overestimated his own skills, because within a few minutes, and no real trouble from Murasakibara's side, the score was already at 4-0 in Murasakibara's favor." He told them, raising a few eyebrows around the room. "I don't know what happened exactly, but when Murasakibara taunted Akashi, something changed in him. His... It was like his presence, his aura, atmosphere changed completely. It was heavy, dark, but incredibly focused." The blue haired guy said, clearly not finding the words he was looking for.

Lucy already knew what this meant. Back then was the awakening of the second Akashi, the part of his personality, which was still in control even now. His desire, no, his need to win brought this up in him.

"Even his style of playing changed, he became more like a snake in the way he quickly and precisely jabbed his hand out and took the ball from his opponent's hands. Without the slightest sign of trouble, Akashi suddenly scores those five points in a row, as if he might as well have been playing against a child, rather than someone who had almost beat him a second ago." He explained. "But that wasn't even the biggest change…"

There was more to this change? Really?

"Right after he'd won and Murasakibara gave in to practice, Akashi turned around to all of us and said that it would be fine, if no one showed up for practice, as long as they showed up for the matches, just like Aomine." He said, not minding the various displays of confusion and surprise on the faces of the people around him as he continued. "Likewise, rather than playing as a team, he also encouraged the Generation of Miracles, at least, to just play individually. It would apparently be better that way."

Akashi truly never lost.. Even when he was at the brink of defeat, he would figure some way out, in which he would emerge victorious. Even creating a second personality in order to secure it… What was this kind of thinking?

"The team changed after that." He said, stating what everyone could already guess. "Only Midorima and I continued to show up for practice, Akashi did once in a while. Everyone else stayed away and only showed up for the games we were to play." He said, breathing out slowly as he spoke. "The feeling of camaraderie, which was already hanging on a thin line, completely disappeared. I don't know if we could even be called a team… Everything went automatically, every match they just soloed through it. No passes, no smiles, no teamwork at the slightest. Teiko got more powerful, but… We were all just machines in the end, made to win." He trailed off.

You could almost guess where the rest of this story was going to go. It wasn't exactly science… It would just continue to spiral down, becoming worse and worse, before they all broke up in the end..

"I didn't fit in much any longer since my plays require some form of team-play. Even though I was only used as a substitute in order to let the main players get some rest and conserve their strength, I still tried my best." He said, his eyes downcast, as they already had been many times throughout this story-time. "It was of no use, though… The Generation of Miracles continued to get better and better, and therefore care less and less about the matches they were playing. They'd win either way." He commented. "At the beginning of the Nationals, there was one team, against which they went all-out… The ending score was 198-8. They annihilated this team so thoroughly, they finally realized the difference between them and everyone were so big, no enemy could stand against them. So… For the rest of the Nationals, in every match they played, they placed bets on who would score most, in order to not get bored during said matches… It was horrible." He said, his voice slowly getting a little shaky.

Something heavy, which had a huge impact on Kuroko, was heading their way. His voice hadn't trembled the slightest until now - actually she was pretty sure she'd never heard the guy's voice tremble at all. But it did.

"Teiko continued to win as though it was only natural. However they did not play all-out like they did in their first match again. Just like in the preliminaries, they used individual plays to score points and played to see who could get most points for their own entertainment. Even if the opposing team was frustrated at being toyed with, they could only watch as the point difference widened mercilessly. To the 'Generation of Miracles' not only were they unworthy of being considered opponents, they weren't even worth looking at. At long last, _that_ day arrived.." He said dramatically. "My friend, Ogiwara's team reached the Championship, I'd watched the hard-fought match from which they qualified. I got fired up just watching it, and knowing Ogiwara would probably be watching mine, I asked to be out from the very beginning." He told them.

Asking to be out from the beginning? Well that was rare of Kuroko, usually he just let either the captain or coach decide when he was going out. He'd been fired up, indeed.

"We were playing against a pair of twins, which specialized in drawing fouls from their opponents, and whom Teiko had been having a lot of trouble with the previous year." He told them slowly, the trembling intensifying by a fraction. "Teiko, in order to save the Miracles' strength for the final, championship match, decided to let half of the Miracles stay on the bench, and let the other half play. When they found they could easily win even without the Miracles, the remaining three were pulled out of the match as well… The entire team got frustrated with the way Teiko was looking down on them, and in a crazy attempt at drawing a foul, one of the twins accidentally rammed their elbow into my face…" He said, his voice having lowered several volumes, yet filled with regret and hurt.

Lucy furrowed her brows, looking at Kuroko worriedly, though she knew he was long over whatever had happened back then.

Kuroko took a deep breath to steady himself and his voice, before continuing. "And I was knocked out." He said. "Which meant I couldn't play against my friend in the final match…" He breathed out, the heaviness of that one fact settling on everyone in the room. "I woke up later, after the match was done, and the final one was about to begin. Akashi was in there, he told me what happened and what was going to happen. So… I asked him if.. If he and the others would take them seriously." He said, stumbling a little as shakiness returned to him. "He promised he'd show them 'Teiko's strength', then left as I went back to sleep." He explained. "When I woke up again… 10 seconds were left of that match… Ogiwara's team was at eight points, while Teiko was at 111. I came out and watched as Ogiwara encouraged his team to at least reach the double digits… They make it through the defenses, but Ogiwara misses his shoot." He said, his face turned to the floor, covered by his bangs. "I watch as Aomine complains about Ogiwara not making it and as he calls to Murasakibara… Murasakibara then… He scores an own-goal as the buzzer rings. 11 to 111… Matching the scores up…" He trailed off.

Lucy internally cursed. She could hardly even blame them. Akashi promised Kuroko to show the other team Teiko's strength, and this, playing around with them, while it wasn't the most merciful way to do it, they certainly established who was strongest.

"After the Nationals, when we returned home, I made the decision to quit basketball." He said almost dramatically, but the weakness his voice betrayed, made everyone know he had meant that seriously. "If that was what basketball was, then I didn't want to play it." He declared reasonably. "But… When I went to go visit Ogiwara to tell him just that and apologize, I found out he had quit basketball and transferred schools by one of his former teammates. The teammate gave me a remaining sweatband, which Ogiwara had used, telling me that Ogiwara had believed that I would be able to thaw the Miracles out of the ice they'd locked themselves into…" He said, slowly looking up again, his eyes glistening with the beginning symptoms of tears. "I didn't know if it was true, and I still don't, but because of that, I joined Seirin." He said, a smile making its way to his face, having ended his story.

Well, she certainly learned a lot today… She had expected it to be something like this, but… It was nice to know the truth either way. It was a tough pill to swallow, but it made sense. The others most likely didn't show their dark side to her quite like Akashi had so brashly done, so she'd probably only seen a fraction of what they hid inside, somewhere. Really, they had all sounded like a bunch of lazy teenagers who just had too much talent to could care about anything and instead got arrogant. Which then lead to them not believing Kuroko and Kagami stood a chance against them before being beat and proven otherwise. It had long since become a pattern among them, seeing as 4 out of 5 had fallen for it already.

"And?" Came the clear comment on Kuroko's quite long story, making everyone whip their heads in the direction of Kagami, who really looked utterly bored, with an elbow on the chair he was sitting in, so that he could hold his head up. "Isn't it your own fault?" He rudely asked.

Lucy was just about to explode on Kagami. How in the name of the Ten Wizard Saints could he think to be so unsympathetic towards something so important to another person?! And it was Kuroko no less! By now, he must already know Kuroko isn't the sharing type - much like the rest of the Generation of Miracles. She had honestly thought he had more basic, human understanding than this.

Before she got the chance though, Kagami continued being a rude asshole. "You dragged it out for so long that you had me wondering what all the build-up was for." He continued, making the steam building up inside the blonde increase. "But I was stupid to worry. I was surprised that there were two Akashis, but that's about it."

Finally, someone reacted to the redheads bluntness. "Eh?! Kagami!" One of the first years - she presumed - exclaimed. "But in their matches, the 'Generation of Miracles' were so-"

Of course, he cut them off before they could finish talking. "It's not like I'm saying they're right or anything like that." He reassured them, looking own to Kuroko again with an annoying look on his face. "But y'know, if you thought they were wrong, you should've beat them up." He declared boldly.

If Lucy'd been near a table, it would have been flipped already. For god's sake. There was no chance in hell Kuroko would ever be able to beat any of them in a fistfight, not to mention Murasakibara or Aomine. His build just wasn't built for that kind of thing. Had Kagami not understood people were different or was he just playing around with them?

The others on his team agreed with her, if 'Whoa, what a savage' and 'That's Bakagami for you' were anything to go by.

"The small stuff can wait, so in the meantime just do something about it." He said as if he was giving the best advice in the world. "But instead, you just moped and whined, and moped and whined…" He almost sounded disappointed in Kuroko!

"Kagami, you…" Hyuuga finally spoke up. "You sure talk big for someone who was sulking after having given up on Japanese basketball without even knowing anything." The glassed guy said with an incredulous look in his eyes.

"And you know." Izuki chirped in. "You were pretty mopey and whiny when it came to Himuro too." He added.

This seemed to hit Kagami where it hurt. "U-ugh… Um… About that…" He fumbled, before actually bowing to them. "I'm sorry! It was my bad!" He quickly apologized.

Meanwhile, Kuroko had attained a hazy look in his eyes. Lifeless, almost. "That's right… It's exactly as Kagami-kun says." He agreed. "I wasn't able to do anything. As a result, I hurt Ogiwara very deeply. You could say that it's my fault he quit basketball." He slowly said as Lucy had basically sprung to her feet, ready to reassure him that it wasn't true.

She was beat to it though, as Kagami slammed a hand down into Kuroko's head angrily. "Didn't I just tell you to stop moping?!" He asked the smaller boy.

"Ow." Was all Kuroko replied with.

"Why are you being like that when he gave you his sweatband in memory of him?!" Kagami asked furiously.

"He's not dead." The blue haired guy reminded him. "Even if he gave it to me, I'm still the one at fault. It's only to be expected that he blames me." He replied sadly.

Having managed to suppress her fury for now, Lucy spoke up as well. "You don't really think that Ogiwara thinks that way, do you?" She asked, making both of them turn to her - and the rest of the room. "I think you've gotten it stuck in your head that you don't want to be forgiven, Tetsuya." She softly told him.

While Kuroko remained silent, Kagami continued from where she left off. "So, what happens now? 'This is the type of person I am. Despite knowing this, will you still consider me your friend?', was pretty much what you were gonna say, wasn't it?" He asked, clearly hitting the nail on the head. "'Cause if that's the case, I'm seriously gonna knock you one." He told the little guy savagely. "We've been friends this whole time, haven't we?" He asked. "Don't you consider _us_ friends?"

She smiled as she saw Kuroko look around at everyone present and at the supportive, reassuring smiles and looks he was getting from all of them. She was really happy for him, it seemed he had found something reminiscent to what Fairy Tail was to her in these people.

Hyuuga approached the ace of their team and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's right… Well, said, Kagami." He praised the guy. "But still…" He trailed off, before making the same move Kagami had done with Kuroko before, with slamming his hand right down onto his head. "WHY HAVE YOU BEEN THE ONLY ONE TALKING?!" He yelled at him, furious.

"Wait.. What?!" Kagami managed to say, before crumbling down in pain.

"WE HAVE A LOT OF THINGS WE WANT TO SAY TOO!" He continued, before turning to Kuroko, his anger not having diminished the slightest. "Kuroko! Get over here! You receive your punishment too!" He told the little guy, who was clearly confused. "Your story was way too damn long!" He elaborated. "I thought we'd still be here to see the sunrise!" He yelled, absolutely furious, apparently. "Koga, grab 'im for me!" He ordered, the cat-faced guy, who immediately jumped into action.

And from then, the group turned into chaos, not unlike the kind she knew from back at her guild, though with less tables thrown around and fire-balls being spouted everywhere. She could do nothing but collect plates with Riko, with a big smile on her face - a reaction to the one similar to the one Kuroko was sporting, while being 'punished' by Hyuuga. It wasn't until a while later, that she would return to Earthland.

 **Yup, I'm sorry about the lateness of it, but here it is! The chapter! Little too short for my liking, but it's okay, it's here, and it's done.**

 **Next up, we'll be going to Earthland again, as I kind of foreshadowed with the last sentence quite obviously, in which I will, once again, have added my own changes to the day!**

 **And so, since Christmas will be falling sometime in between this chapter and the next, I wish you all a truly, merry Christmas! And to those who don't celebrate it - I wish you an absolutely awesome week!**

 **Thanks to all who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed! Hope the chapter was just somewhat worth the double-as-long wait!**

 **~Line464d**


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66**

 **Well… Hope you've all had a wonderful time! I sure did - and I'm FINALLY over that damn project, so things should be getting back on track here after New Years - which, have a happy one, everyone! XD**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail. Don't own Kuroko no Basuke. Don't own Fanfiction. Don't own much, really, but the strangeness of all of this. **

**Earthland~**

Luckily, Lucy had woken up earlier than the others at morning, the third day of the Grand Magic Games. It gave her a chance to think through everything she had been told the other day at Earth. Really, it didn't shock her as much as she'd have expected. A lot of what she had been told, she'd expected - to some extent anyway. Even the part with the two personalities of Akashi's she already knew, having experienced it first-hand. Also that the Miracles, excluding Kuroko, had agreed to go to different schools, to find out who was the strongest, as the little, blue haired guy also told them later.

Though, the theory Kuroko had brought up afterwards, when they had all calmed down again after the little brawl they had gotten into, she hadn't expected. It made sense though.

" _This is just a theory that Midorima came up with. He told me after the Generation of Miracle meeting during the Winter Cup opening ceremonies… 'The Generation of Miracles all bloomed when we were second years. But even though I say 'bloomed' there wasn't anything about it. Though it was sudden, the awakening of our talents were purely natural. However, Akashi was slightly different. He awakened during his one-on-one with Murasakibara. In addition, he changed into the other Akashi at the same time, which made it partially forced. But what if he hadn't faced Murasakibara then, and hadn't switched with the other Akashi?', that was what he told me. The Emperor Eye is the special skill of the other Akashi. What if the original Akashi had a different skill that would have awakened, had he bloomed naturally?"_

That was what Kuroko had told them back there. Every single one of the Miracles, Kuroko included, had a special ability. For Kuroko, it's his misdirection, though he worked hard for that to come to him, he didn't bloom as such. For Midorima, it's his long shots. For Aomine, it's his unpredictable, quick and powerful plays. For Kise, it's his ability to copy. And so on and so forth.

But what Kuroko was insinuating was that Akashi had two different abilities, one other one, which was connected with the original Akashi.

While it wouldn't affect her much whether he did or didn't, it would most likely have quite the effect on the game he was to play against Seirin. He could suddenly switch to the original one, when and if he was in a pinch, and just burst out with something entirely new and unknown to everyone but himself. And it was sure to give Seirin a shock, even if it would be half expected of them. It was likely to turn the match around all-together, if it was as powerful as the Emperor Eye.

If he turned the match around and suddenly won… Well, then it would be getting difficult to get him to a stage somewhere similar with the other Miracles. It was one of the few chances, in which they could push away the twisted part of him. The part that had become twisted through the pressure from home about coming out on top, and then actually doing it.

But… If things turned out that way, though it would be hard, she _would_ figure out a way to do it. For his own sake more so than hers. Otherwise every single Akashi in his family following him would be experiencing the same pressure he did and would turn out to be the same kind of person he was, and then they too would treat their children that way… It was a bad spiral which was in need of being broken as soon as possible. She didn't know how, but she'd figure it out.

She wasn't going to be sorry for herself in advance and worry about it, she'd take it when she came to that obstacle. For now, she should keep her focus on the day, which she and her team were already headed towards.

"Yosh! I'm gonna kick some Saber-butt today! I know it!" Natsu cheered, already certain he would be getting into one of the battles, _and_ that he would be up against someone from Sabertooth.

Not that everyone else was concerned of the same. "Yeah, sure, Fire Brain. Like that'd ever happen." Gray responded with a smirk.

Obviously, that made the Fire Dragon Slayer glare at his rival and 'secretly' best friend. "Oi, Ice Prick. I went right up and beat their guild master up yesterday! These guys aren't a problem!" He said, proud of the feat he had managed the other day.

"Oh, right…" Lucy muttered, remembering what had happened with Yukino last she was here. So much was going on for her right now, she couldn't keep track of it all it seemed. "I hope Yukino is all right wherever she is." She said. Yukino hadn't said anything about what she was going to be doing back then. Maybe she joined a new guild?

The blonde looked up, when an armored hand landed on her shoulder. "I am certain Yukino is quite all right where she is, Lucy. She is no weak girl." Erza reassured her.

The blonde girl nodded, both girls ignoring the guys' arguing. "Yeah, she is." She said with a smile. Yukino had three gold keys, where one of them were Ophiuchus, and some silver keys too. She would be fine, her Spirits would protect her.

Wendy looked from the two boys, who were borderline brawling now, to the two girls with a worried expression. "U-uhm, Erza-san? Shouldn't we stop them?" She asked, referring to the two boys.

Erza looked up at the two guys of their team and, suppressing a sigh, she quickly summoned a sword. With skill only gotten through experience and practice, the redhead threw the sword straight ahead, right between the heads of the two guys ahead of them.

Both Gray and Natsu froze in fright, when they saw the sword flying right past them, and slowly, with wide eyes and sweaty foreheads, turned to the knight, who was looking straight at them with a blank expression. "Could we establish a proper atmosphere between the two of you?" She ordered more than she asked.

The two slowly and mechanically nodded, knowing not to cross her, before turning ahead and continuing to walk ahead with stiff, robotic movements. In turn, this reaction made both Lucy and Wendy giggle, even though it was far from the first time they'd seen this kind of thing.

They reached the arena with no further problems, especially not from the two guys, who had been behaving perfectly right since that sword-incident. It seemed they were some of the last to arrive, as every other team, but Sabertooth, had already arrived.

The blonde Celestial mage almost snorted and rolled her eyes. Those Sabertooth guys were probably aiming to be 'fashionably late' for the party.

She had hardly finished the thought, before the team stepped out through the roar of the crowd, which seemed to be even louder than it used to be. She soon found out, when she looked to see a new person stepping out, a confident, evil-looking smirk at their mouth. 'Minerva', she guessed, through the crowd's yelling.

She was… Well, it seemed she would be the kind of person, who would thrive perfectly under the conditions of her guild. Lucy knew it was wrong to judge people from the first look, but she just knew this person wasn't nice. She was flat-out evil. Her sadistic expression, the confidence she radiated.. It was like that of every single evil person Lucy had met so far. Her instincts were flaring up in alarm at the sight of her.

The way she so nonchalantly strolled out of the opening and into the light of the arena, waving around at the crowd. The way her pitch-black hair caught the wind and the way her blue dress fell around her. Her sharp, dark eyes shone. It all screamed 'danger' to her.

Well, hopefully she wouldn't be pit against her anytime soon. She'd had her match already, she doubted she'd get another with the outcome of that one. Besides, why match her with that woman at all? The outcome would be obvious.

Either way, their arrival marked the start of the day's Games. As such, she turned her attention from them and to the pumpkin-guy, Mato, who was standing down in the arena, wearing the big grin he couldn't drop thanks to his costume.

He looked up at all at the participants and waved. "Good morning everyone, are you ready for the third day? - Kabo!" He asked, getting cheers of agreement from the contestants and then a cheer of happiness from the crowd because of that. "Awesome - kabo! Now let's see what the event is today!" He said and gestured to the sky.

Suddenly a lot of fireworks sprung up from the ground, flew up into the sky way above them, and then exploded in a beautiful array of colors. Notably though, the fireworks created the word 'First to 3'. Immediately, Lucy knew what this was about, and she couldn't help smiling like an idiot.

"And that's it - kabo! First to three!" He said excitedly as the crowd and quite a few of the participants clapped at the show. "Now, each team must choose one participant each!" He said, his excitement not dying down for a second.

Natsu jumped into the air with both hands raised. "I'M ALL FIRED UP! I'm gonna kick some ass in this event!" He said, and already with a leg on top of the railing, ready to jump down, when he was stopped by a little hand on his shoulder. "Huh, Luce?" He asked, seeing the blonde was the one to stop him.

She gently shook her head. "This event isn't a fight, Natsu, it's a _game_." She said, letting it settle into his - and the others' - head for a moment, knowing they'd know what she meant, before turning to Erza. "Please, Erza, can I do this one?" She asked, smiling.

Erza, the first one to realize what the blonde meant, immediately nodded with a smile. "Of course, Lucy. This round is yours." She told her.

Gray grinned, lifting his hand for a high-five. "You got this one in the bag, Lucy." He said confidently as she slammed her hand into his. If she couldn't win this, none of them could.

"Please be careful, Lucy-san." Wendy timidly said, though smiled encouragingly at the blonde. Lucy gently patted Wendy's head reassuringly. She'd be fine.

"Oh…. OH!" Natsu said, as he figured out what it was all about. "You better kick some ass, Luce!" He said, his trademark-grin in place.

Lucy smiled at them all. "Thank you guys! I'll win this for sure!" She said, waving at them as she ran off down the hall to the entrance underneath the balcony her team would be watching from. It took no time, before she was down on the ground with some of the other participants. Yuka from Lamia, Risley from Mermaid, Kurohebi from Raven, Bacchus from Quatro, Ichiya from Pegasus. Sabertooth and Fairy Tail B-team were the only ones remaining.

Though, when she turned around to look towards her own guild to see who would be chosen, she heard a bump behind her, followed up by a way too recognizable laugh. "Gihi! I'm gonna win this time around, Bunny-Girl." Gajeel laughed at her.

Lucy smirked right back at him and gave him a light punch to the arm. "Yeah? You're welcome to try, Tin Can!" She replied, taking a page out of Natsu's book for once. Gajeel just laughed back.

Though it was broken off with the last person landing on the ground, not far from the two Fairy Tail mages. Sting turned and glared right at the blonde Celestial mage. "I'm going to pay you back, you slut. Fairy Trash like you don't belong here, and it's about time you realize that." He harshly told her, making her glare right back.

"What did you say, you-" Gajeel began growling at the blonde guy, before he was stopped by Lucy, who simply shook her head, telling him silently just to let her deal with it for now. Begrudgingly, he agreed, though he never let up on the glaring and the deep rumble of a growl rolling out from the back of his throat.

Sting raised an eyebrow at how easily the blonde got the hulk of a man, who definitely was tens of times stronger than her, to just follow her command like that. He made eye-contact with Gajeel for a moment, before sighing and shaking his head almost disappointedly, as if telling the guy he was a disgrace to the other Dragon Slayers with how easily he was tamed. Of course, that only pissed Gajeel off more.

He was barred from doing anything though, as Mato began his explanation. "Everyone's here! Then let me explain the rules - kabo!" He said, drawing attention to himself before a brawl could start between the people present. "This is a game of one-on-one basketball - kabo! In a tournament-sort of style." He announced, getting the crowd cheering loudly.

Lucy smiled. It seemed like it had been a very good idea to introduce basketball to this world, mages and civilians both seemed to enjoy it and it didn't require you had crazy physical skills or magic. And it was quite simple too. Well.. The version here on Earthland was, anyway.

"The rules are simple - kabo. Use this ball-" With a poof, the familiar, orange ball appeared in the pumpkin's hand. "- and throw it into the nets. First who gets three points wins!" He said as four courts materialized around and under them, and the eight nets were pushed up from under the ground. "Magic will be allowed in the game, the only rules are that you can't directly hurt your opponent with it or restrict them from moving. Other than that, let your creativity flow - kabo!" He said, raising his hands into the air.

"So what about the match-ups, Pumpkin?" Bacchus asked, his words already slurred, by alcohol no doubt.

"Of course - kabo!" He said. "As I said, it is in a tournament-style. So if you lose, you're eliminated! The first one to lose of all of you will be last place and so on." He said. "It starts out with four matches, then two and in the end one - kabo!" He said, still not having given them the match-ups as had been requested. "Now for the match-ups…" He said and turned to the lacrima screen, which appeared behind him. "They are as follows!"

Suddenly, eight boxes, each connected two and two and then connected with another pair, before meeting in the middle, much like it looked on a family tree, though with two opposing ones connecting in the middle.

"Quatro Puppy versus Blue Pegasus!" He called, naming the box on the top left. "Sabertooth versus Raven Claw!" The box right underneath them. So, whoever won those two matches would be up against each other, to find out who would be battling for the 10 points against the one on the other side. "Fairy Tail A versus Lamia Scale!" So she'd be up against Yuka, eh? If she remembered correctly, his magic cancelled other magic. Well then… No Spirits this time around then. "And finally, Mermaid Heel versus Fairy Tail B - kabo!" He announced as the screen remained for a second, before disappearing entirely.

With that, he assigned each of the pairs to their court, and they all went there. When Lucy and Yuka reached theirs, she sent the guy a smile, trying to establish a good mood from the beginning. "Let's have a good match." She said, offering a hand for a handshake.

He gave her, then her hand a long look, probably wondering if she had any ulterior ideas with that handshake, before accepting it with a nod. "Yes." He agreed. "Just know, as a mage, you stand no chance in front of me." He said, completely ruining the chance of a somewhat friendly mood.

Lucy sweat dropped. "… Right." She just agreed, sighing as she followed. Good thing she wasn't aiming to play this as a mage either.

When each pair stood, ready to begin, Kabo continued his explanation. "All right, when the gong sounds, the ball will be thrown up - kabo!" He said and with that, that very gong sounded, starting the matches.

She immediately lowered her gravitational point just as the ball flew up from the ground right in front of her. Not minding the fact that it seemed they had a whole machinery underneath the arena, she waited for the ball to reach its peak, before setting off, perfectly timed.

Yuka didn't jump as well-timed as Lucy did, and alas, the ball went to her. She didn't have any plans of slowing down as soon as she hit the ground though. She didn't know how well Yuka played this game, and it would be stupid for her to underestimate him right from the beginning - that was what she hoped others would her. She'd figure out where he lay skill-wise and then play accordingly.

Having landed with both feet on the ground before the Lamia mage did, she hurried off past him and towards his net, dribbling the ball right away. Her opponent didn't have the speed to catch up to her, she found, and so, she set off the ground as she reached just pass the penalty-line and jumped up to dunk it through, using her momentum to jump all the way.

With that, she had scored her first goal, taking the lead right from the beginning. In the back of her head, she registered that the commentators - which included Jason today - were talking about how she was the one who introduced the game, and so it wasn't unheard of, that she would be one of the good players today. It made her heart flutter in happiness at the bit of recognition. She just couldn't help it.

Getting her focus on the game back, she hurried to her own side of the court and turned around in time to see Yuka picking the ball up. Other than the bit of practice - and the little game she'd had with Sting - she really hadn't gotten the chance to play it much recently, but it seemed it was like riding a bike for her. Once she learned it, she didn't forget again.

She watched as Yuka set into motion as well, moving along at a calm pace while dribbling the ball at his side, watching her. Playing by Earthland-style, she rushed forward, aiming to steal the ball form him, and hoping to get the match a bit more high-paced than what he was making it.

For a moment, he actually seemed surprised she would rush forward so bluntly, but he just as quickly composed himself again and then began attempting a wide-open crossover right in front of her, as if aiming to confuse her. Rather than that, it served a nice opportunity for her to steal it right out of his hands. And so, she did just that. Once again, she ran off with the ball, leaving him behind in the dust, as she jumped up almost right under the net and delivered it to the net.

Two goals for her, zero for him still. One goal to go yet. If she just continued like this, she'd win.

She heard Yuka sigh as he went to pick the ball up again, and she got ready to play the last ball against him. When he turned around, she saw a form of determination in his eyes. He still had the confidence to win at this point? That was true Fairy Tail spirit right there, she would give him that. She commended that a lot, what with being from that guild and all.

It made no difference though, her wish to win was stronger than his. She wanted to show she was still worth something, that she wasn't weak on all points. She'd win this.

She was almost on her toes when Yuka set into motion again. Though once again moving calmly, since he'd figured out that she didn't want that kind of game.

Gently but quickly shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she kept her eyes on the ball and feet more so than she did his face, that was the key to figuring out what they did, she found. And as expected, she called it when Yuka laid more pressure on one foot, a tell-tale sign that he was about to set into a run.

She immediately rushed forward, aiming to do the same thing that she had before. However, when she came within reaching-distance of the ball, Yuka suddenly spun around, keeping his back to her, as she stumbled forward without the ball.

Though he had evaded her this time, she quickly retaliated by spinning on her heels, almost wheeled as she turned around. Yuka was running straight for her net - much like she had him. But she wasn't going to be making it that easy for him. She sped up further and soon came within distance, seemingly without him registering it much.

So with the speed she'd seen used by both Akashi and Izuki so many times now, she pushed the ball right out of her opponent's hands, momentarily surprising him and giving her and advantage in the race to gain control of the ball.

She claimed it swiftly and spun once again, before running down the court at a high speed. She felt a blast of magic behind her, accompanied by 'Wave Boost', and then the rapidly approaching presence of the Lamia Scale mage's. She glanced back, and saw the guy use his magic to push him forward somehow, through his hands, which were faced backwards.

Either way, he was going to catch up to her. And that he did. He quickly came into a defensive stance in front of her, looking at her with narrowed eyes, warning her it would not be that easy.

She already knew what to do to get around him though. She kept the speed up as she approached him, feinted to the left, before rolling to the right and driving right past him. She'd have to borrow an Earth-technique for now, since it was in order to win it would be all right, she was sure. Gajeel probably wouldn't beat her to death because of it. _Probably_.

She slipped right by the Anti-Mage - as she remembered he preferred to call himself - and straight to the net, easily making herself the last and finishing goal.

With a smile, she breathed out her exhaustion and dried her forehead. She could do this. Even if everyone here got much stronger magic-wise, they couldn't also get so much stronger at this game. It wasn't just like that to get stronger at it. Maybe. Just maybe she had the edge here. She also had all the gameplays she knew from Earth, if the straight-forward, offensive strategy didn't go over well. She'd probably have to pull some out of her sleeve against Gajeel, if she was up against him.

Speaking of… She quickly looked up to see how the match next to her was doing. Here, she saw Gajeel struggling against Risley, the plump girl from Mermaid, who'd apparently turned thin somehow. It seemed like the girl had gravitational magic, which allowed her to change both her own and Gajeel's 'weight' and the force put against him. And the ball's too. No wonder it was difficult for him.

Other than that, Bacchus seemed to have finished Ichiya long ago. The Pegasus mage seemed just about ready to die of exhaustion though… Guess this wasn't really his kind of thing. Last but not least, Sting was up against Kurohebi and seemed to be winning. Though also with some difficulty.

She straightened up and smiled at Yuka, when she saw him approaching. He looked a little winded as well, but nothing serious, seeing as the length of their match was nothing special. "Thank you for the match, Lucy. It seems I underestimated you." He said, coming to a stop in front of her, his arms folded behind his back in that regal way he always did it.

She smiled at him amusedly. "Well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve." She told him, which was entirely true. "But yeah, thanks for the match Yuka." She agreed. He gave her a single nod, before he retreated to the side of the arena silently. She looked after him with an almost apologetic expression. At least he didn't get the last place, that one was reserved for Ichiya…

"Now then - kabo! Let's begin the next round!" He said, once again gaining everyone's attention. Looking around, Lucy found the last two matches had been decided - she didn't know the result though. "The next matches will be as follows.." He said as the screen once again appeared behind him, two new boxes having been filled out. "The next matches will be between Sabertooth and Quatro Puppy and Fairy Tail team B versus Fairy Tail team A!" He announced, sending the crowd into a roar of excitement.

Lucy looked to Gajeel with a smirk, being rewarded one from him as well. Now then… This would be fun.

 **Aaaaaall right! Though a little delayed, it is out! Hope you enjoyed!  
I do apologize for the lateness of it, though. And the shortness of it. Christmas-time really is busy for me this years… Ah well, as I missed one a little while ago, I hope to have two chapters out this week! Because you guys need an ending to these last two matches in this game that I have been thinking out the entire time, and then because… Well, I think you guys deserve it. I guess. I'm feeling kind right now. Also, please note the '** _ **hope**_ **' part. I have a tendency to get lazy when I don't want to…. ._."**

 **Either way! How many of you guessed that it was going to be a basketball event from the name of it? I'm curious. I'm always curious. But right now I'm curious about this. Please do tell!**

 **Yup, so… Hope you enjoyed! And thanks to those who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed! - I'll see to replying you guys as soon as possible, I don't know what's blown me off course with that… Ah jeez, I seriously just have messed up priorities, I think.**

 **~Line464d**


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

 **Happy New Years, everybody! Can't believe it's 2017 already**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: While I'd love to, I don't own Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. Unfortunately. Or maybe it's for the best? The plot's less messy the way it is XD**

 **Earthland~**

As Lucy slowly began moving towards Gajeel's court, which resided near the middle, she knew this one would be tough. She'd played against Gajeel - and everyone else from Fairy Tail, for that matter - so many times already, they knew how she played. Of course, it was a double-edged sword. She also knew exactly how he played.

Either way it was going to be the toughest match she'd be playing. That's why she had a plan that would most likely give her the edge in defeating him.

Placing herself next to Gajeel, in the middle of their given court, she squared her shoulders off, preparing herself for the ball, which was to shoot up somewhere beneath them. "Well, let me see what you're made of, Gajeel." She said with a smile.

She could see him grinning down at her. "Oh you already know that, Bunny-Girl." He replied, seemingly also getting himself ready. "Iron, and it's way tougher than the glimmer you're made of." He teased her.

Sending him a glare, she just barely fought the urge to cross her arms. "You should know not to underestimate me in this by now, you know." She responded, earning his infamous laugh from him.

"The semi-finals will now begin - kabo!" Mato loudly announced from between the Fairy Tail mages' court and Sting and Bacchus'. A second after he finished his sentence, the gong sounded, and the ball flew up from the ground - just like it had in the earlier match.

Watching the ball fly up - at least double the height it would have been in Earth - she braced herself, prepared to jump into action. Of course, she knew she had little chance of getting the ball from him. Not only was Gajeel much taller than her, he also had much more leg-muscle, and therefore power, so he could jump much higher than she could.

Alas, it was not the kind of action Gajeel expected that she took. Rather, she reached down into her pouch and with incredible precision drew out three keys. "Open! Gate of the Angel! Gate of the Demon! Gate of the Sundial!" She called, each of the three silver keys spread between her fingers, as Gajeel set off the ground. "Angelis! Daemon! Solarium!" She yelled, three golden lights appearing around her, as Gajeel confusedly reached for the ball mid-air.

"What the hell is this now, girl?" Daemon grumbled even before the leftover magic had faded from his appearance in Earthland. He looked around with a displeased look as his arms were crossed and his wings flexed behind him.

Angelis lightly hit his head. "Oh, come on now! This is going to be fun!" She said, almost jumping on the spot. All she got was another grumble from the Demon Spirit.

Meanwhile, Solarium was making his way to the edge of the court. "Hmm… I'll be right over here, when you need me, mmm?" He said almost questioningly, though he didn't seem to have any intentions of turning around, even if she wanted him to.

Not that she did, having him over there was her plan all along. "Perfect, guys, be ready." She quickly spoke, seeing Gajeel was nearing the ground again. "Loke! Virgo!" She called to her two Spirits, and immediately, the two familiar, golden lights were by her side, through their own power.

"Don't worry my princess, I will defeat this brute for you~" Loke said as he appeared. "And then we can run off on our honeymoon!" He then added, making a grand gesture with his arms.

Meanwhile, Virgo looked from the Lion Spirit to Lucy. "Punishment, Princess?" She asked, making Loke blanch next to her.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "No, we just have to beat Gajeel!" She said, already moving back to her own net in order to stand in the defense, her Spirits giving a varied response of agreement, before doing the same.

And finally, Gajeel landed on the ground, ball in hand. "Damn, this is almost cheating, Bunny-Girl." He commented, before rushing forward, keeping the dribble close to the ground.

The blonde quickly responded by meeting him halfway. "Basketball is meant to be played in teams, Gajeel." She reminded him.

"Right." He muttered, before dribbling past her in a flurry of moves. "It's not going to help you though." He said, laughing to himself, as the path to the net was free.

"You spoke too soon, Gajeel." Loke grinned, pointing to the ball he was dribbling. When Gajeel looked down, he found himself dribbling said ball right into the hands of Virgo, who had been lying in wait in a tunnel, she had just created in the ground. Unable to stop at this point in time, it landed safely in the hands of the Maid, who didn't spare him a second glance, before hurrying off underground.

Growling, he whirled around, trying to figure out where the pink-haired Spirit was headed. From the corner of his eye, he saw his blonde opponent already halfway down the court, towards his net. The explosion of earth, and the following head of pink hair, set him into motion.

Before he reached far though, the Angel Spirit landed with her giant, white wings spread out beside her, completely blocking his view of the blonde and her Spirits on the other side, and acting as great defense with her big wingspan.

Because of it, he just barely made it past her in time to see Lucy easily delivering the ball to the net, and gaining herself a goal. With that, she retreated to her own side, giving him a smirk as he went to pick the ball up again, starting the second round.

He didn't give it a second thought as he, once again, immediately set into motion, right after having it in his hands. Hoping to catch her off guard, he charged right ahead.

And though he did actually catch her off guard, the same didn't go for her Spirits. Loke reacted to the Iron Slayer's approach by placing himself in front of him with his arms spread out to each side, as if in an attempt to stop the much bigger guy.

Gajeel just grunted and plowed on, right through the Lion's defenses. Though not with the ball intact. The Zodiac Spirit had somehow managed to steal it from him in the process of moving forward, and was now setting into motion towards the other net.

As such, the Iron Slayer quickly extended his arm forward, turning it into iron, as it flew at inhuman speed towards the ginger Spirit. It was just barely seeable as it passed, but when it reached the ball, it became clear that Gajeel had transformed his hand into a grip-like hand, which could reach around the basketball and pull it right out of the Lion's hands and back to Gajeel.

He had barely turned around, before he heard the beat of wings right behind him. Alas, there stood Lucy, flanked by the Demon Spirit, on the defense. He gritted his teeth in irritation. "Don't think this is going to stop me, Bunny-Girl." He said, before thrusting off the ground in a powerful leap, jumping way up in the air. When Daemon followed up, Gajeel hurled the ball right into the backboard, where it then fell through the hoop.

Lucy smiled. Even though they had a big advantage in their numbers, Gajeel still managed to bypass them and fight on fairly equal terms. She'd expected no less from him. Even though it was an important match, she couldn't help allowing herself to have fun with it regardless.

Nonetheless, she wasn't about to let him win though.

"Lucy-chan!" She heard her name called, and turned to see Angelis landing next to her as she picked the ball up. The blonde sent the Angel a questioning look. "Let me help you out!" She said and gently cupped her own hands over the two Lucy had on the ball, closing her eyes and mumbling an incantation the mage could barely hear. "Forces of the Heavens, hear my prayer and grant the strength of the mighty…!" She mumbled in a low voice and as her hands began glowing in a soft, white light, Lucy began feeling much fresher and stronger than before. "There you go!" Angelis happily said, removing her hands from the blonde's.

Lucy smiled at her, figuring it was support magic she'd just been doing - just like Wendy. "Thank you Angelis." She thanked her Spirit.

The little Angel leaned in a little closer, an almost sly expression on her face. "It should be able to keep up for the length of another match as well." She said with a wink.

The blonde mage's smile lit up even further and she drew the Spirit in for a quick hug. "You're awesome, Angelis!" She said as the other person giggled.

"Oi! Could you two finish the lovey-dovey stuff already?" Gajeel called out from the other side of the field, looking positively impatient.

Daemon nodded, his tail whipping angrily in the air. "I agree with him." He said, jabbing a thumb back over his shoulder, pointing at Gajeel.

Lucy rolled her eyes, hearing Loke add how he wouldn't mind if she got lovey-dovey with him. "Yeah, yeah, you killjoys, we'll get back to the game." She said amusedly.

Doing a pair of quick crossovers, Lucy sprang into motion, dashing forward at a great speed. She could both hear and feel her Spirits following behind her, all five of them charging right at Gajeel, who stood defensively in front of his goal.

As was the norm here at Earthland, when she came close enough, Gajeel began running towards her as she approached as well. Speeding up the last three steps, Lucy let herself almost fall to the ground and slid on her heels down between Gajeel's legs, and up on the other side.

Seeing as that move had been made on the guy a lot of times already, he'd half expected it to come at some point. So he quickly turned around and actually managed to catch up to her. Going into a defensive position in front of her, he finally managed to slow her down.

Weighing her options for a moment, she kept the ball going from hand to hand. She already knew what she wanted to do though, and just looked at her Spirits, who were gathering around her and Gajeel all over the court for the looks of it. Then, unexpectedly even for Earthland's play, she slammed the ball into the ground and let it fly up in the air.

Just when Gajeel was going to jump up, knowing he'd get it before she did, Daemon swept in, grabbed the ball and glided over to the hoop and dropped the ball. From here, Loke jumped up and made sure it actually came through with a dunk of his own.

The Iron Slayer growled a little to himself for forgetting the flyers Lucy had on her team, trying to filter the high-five he could hear in the background out of his mind. If she had these guys all around her, he wasn't going to win. So there was only one thing he could do.

Turning around after having gotten the ball up from the ground again, he faced his opponents. "All right, listen here, Bunny-Girl." He started out, getting their attention. "You either send all of these guys back, or I'm gonna do it for ya." He warned her.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the black haired guy. "Gajeel, you aren't threatening my Spirits, are you?" She asked him, a warning clear in her words.

"No, I'm giving you a choice." He said, his more sadistic side having a rare moment of joy.

Squinting her eyes even further at him for a second, she crossed her arms. "All right." She sighed, turning to her Spirits. "Thanks for your help, guys, I'll take care of him for now." She said, and looked at the four on the court. They each gave her nods in return, Loke a glare in Gajeel's direction as well, before returning to their own world. She turned to Gajeel again. "Is this okay with you?" She asked him, letting her irritation with his decision shine through her words.

He just laughed, finding thorough amusement in her reaction. "Yeah, it's perfect, Bunny-Girl." He reassured her. "Now it's just you and me." He smirked.

She smiled right back. That's what he thought. She crouched lightly, getting ready for whatever he might throw at her.

And once again, he ran straight-ahead towards her with all the speed he could go at. It was nothing for the blonde, he knew that. She was much faster than him, but the sheer size of him was what he could use in this situation against her.

But then suddenly, as if the ball had a mind of its own, it left his hands, and jumped the other way, retracing the path it had taken just before. He looked back confusedly at the ball, which had simply refused going forward and which was now hanging teasingly in the air.

Shaking it off as a malfunction in the magic it had most likely been created with, he took a step back to reach it, only for it to dribble itself two steps forward, at the position it had been when it had refused his way of treating it. And once again, it hung in the air as if mocking him.

"What the hell is this shit?!" He exclaimed in frustration when the ball did the very same thing again as he reached out for it.

Looking up, he heard Lucy's laugh. But it wasn't the only one, there was also a more distinctive, croaky one. "Hm, hm, hm!" It literally sounded like an old man.

And that was when Gajeel internally face palmed himself. The last Spirit, the turtle-guy. It manipulated time. That guy was probably having the time of its life right now.

He sent a glare towards Lucy, having figured it out, but also unable to blame her, seeing as he'd agreed to the situation just before. He reached out for the ball again, keeping an eye on the turtle, which's old eyes were looking back at him, glittering with amusement. He had no expectation of actually touching the ball, so when he did, he almost jumped in surprise.

Only thing was, no matter how much he pulled or pushed in it, it wouldn't move from that spot in the air. It was as if it was cemented to that spot. Completely unmovable. "Now what the hell is this?" He asked, anger dripping off his voice.

Lucy calmly approached him, though she couldn't help smiling. "I guess Solarium locked the ball in time. You're not going to be moving that anytime soon." She told him, which made him turn around in frustration and surrender, almost, throwing his hands upwards as if flipping an invisible table. It gave her the chance she needed though, she quickly grabbed the ball out of the air, letting Solarium's hold on it disappear, as she hurried off in a dribble, laughing all the way. The laughter only heightened when Gajeel called out to her a second later.

Just when she passed the three-point arc, she jumped up and threw the ball the Earthland way towards the goal. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on Gajeel actually catching up to her and jumping up in time to could reach the ball and hit it off course. Likewise, he hadn't counted on Solarium speeding time up for the ball, and making it shoot straight past his fingertips and into the backboard and then through the ring even faster, giving Lucy the victory of the match.

Gajeel groaned. "Ah, come on. Why is it you can always pull out new tricks every time we play a new match?" He asked her rhetorically as she waved Solarium goodbye.

She smiled and shook her head. "I've been cooking that one up for a while." She told him, not that it really was an answer to his question. "Besides, it was six against one, just the fact that you got one goal in was pretty well done." She told him. If it had been the other way around, she wasn't sure she could do the same.

He grunted at her. "Sure." He replied, clearly not having the same point of view on that. "Anyway, you better beat that asshole's ass." He told her, gesturing towards Sting, who was standing as the lone victor on his court - Bacchus had joined the other 'losers' at the sidelines already. Seemingly pretty drunk.

Lucy nodded, her gaze meeting Sting's. "I will." She promised Gajeel and Sting alike. It seemed Sting had gotten a little taste of her style of playing, whereas she had gotten none of him. She wasn't too worried, though. She was pretty sure she knew how he played. Offensively - just like Natsu.

After all, the guy seemed to have an obsession with her best friend, and since he had pretty much the same build, it was pretty likely his style of playing was similar with the Fire Dragon Slayer's. Basically, Natsu used his speed and strength in order to score a lot of pretty predictable goals and then completely disregarded defense, only attempting steals to could score even more goals. What with the mentality of Sabertooth, she didn't have much doubt in her mind that Sting would be playing that way as well.

But, just like she'd had with Gajeel, she had already formulated a sort of plan. Alas, she turned to the black haired guy that was her guild mate, and the one who'd been overseeing her training. "I'm allowed to play Earth-style now, right?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

As expected, Gajeel smirked and nodded. "Yeah, knock yourself - and more importantly, _him_ \- out." He said, adding his trademark laugh at the end.

She nodded, and met Sting on his court, seeing as Mato had called her over. She didn't listen much to the Pumpkin as he announced the last match, for formality's sake. Instead, she kept her gaze locked with Sting's, knowing that he'd see it as a sign of surrender should she break it first.

She planted herself firmly on the ground next to him, where they were supposed to go for the tip-off. "You don't stand a chance, Blondie." He promised her, his arms crossed and creating a barrier between them.

She narrowed her eyes at him, already annoyed with how he was looking down at her ability to play. Of course, she'd helped that along already, by not showing what she could really do back when they'd just arrived to Crocus. "Try me, Lightbulb." She shot back. That was one of the things she really appreciated, which had come along with the training Gajeel had put her through - she was more confident in herself in this way, and she wasn't afraid of showing it.

Sting just grunted at her, obviously thinking of her as an idiot. Mato demanded their attention, and forced them to look at him. "The match will begin when the gong sounds - kabo!" He repeated himself, saying that line for the third time this day alone.

Rolling her shoulders, she nodded to reassure them that she was ready for this. And she was. With the help of the Miracles, Kuroko and their teams, she would be beating this guy for sure. She had no doubt she'd succeed. She would give it her very best, better than she had ever played before.

And so, the gong sounded, making the ball shoot up from underground. She waited, her muscles tense and ready to spring into action, as she watched the ball slowly reach the peak. If she wanted the tip-off, she had to do like she had against Gray once - use her speed to compensate for her lesser leg-muscles and height.

As such, even when Sting had jumped, she waited another second, before she followed along, crouching down as far as she could, to go even faster. She turned around with her back to Sting already as she was flying up in the air, using her own body to push him away as much as possible. It worked, and so did her speed, earning her the ball.

Landing on the ground almost at the same time as Sting did, she set the match to be high-paced right from the beginning. Using the technique she'd seen Kise use quite a few times, only with the difference that they didn't have their backs to the opponent from the beginning, she feinted to the right, before rolling around Sting so fast she almost stumbled, and continued to use the momentum to run even faster.

Though it was probably Sting's first encounter with a feint, he was quick to recover from it and catch up to her. So much so, that he drove her all the way to the side of the net, in a rather awkward position. But. Aomine could make a shot from here, so she could too.

With that concluded, Lucy jumped up - almost parallel to the edge of the court behind the net - then let herself lean back in her jump. Just like Aomine had done it. She probably didn't look as if she was levitating, like he did, though. Probably more like someone trying something impossible. Which was true.

Disregarding the odds, she threw the ball, when she was at an angle that promised her Sting wouldn't be able to react. Though she couldn't see whether she actually scored, as she had to tip backwards to do a handspring, so she could land on her feet, the crowd told her the result. The gasping kind of gave it away - she had scored.

She smiled. If this didn't prove it, nothing did. She could do this, and she would. She would show everyone here, her own guild included, what real basketball really was.

She watched with a smile as Sting went to get the ball under control again, scoffing all the way. "Don't think this proves anything, I'm going to beat you, Fairy Trash." He promised her, glaring her way.

"Whatever you say, Sting-kun~" She sang amusedly, retreating to her own side of the court. She couldn't help smiling broader at how annoyed he got with that nickname.

Now he would be more serious though so she had to be ready for whatever he dished out.

He didn't spare a second, as he quickly shot into movement again, charging right at her at break-neck speed. Unlike what he was used to though, she stayed rooted to the ground, simply waiting for his approach. To him, she knew, it seemed like she just accepted she couldn't stop him, and it made him over-confident.

Right as she was, Sting had absolutely no doubt that he would be scoring this ball. Her calmness threw him a little off, though. And even as he got closer and closer, she seemed to get taller and taller. If she had been Orga or someone, he'd be worried about her range of defense, but this was the Fairy Trash he'd played just a few days prior. No one improved that fast, no matter who they were.

So without a doubt clouding his mind, Sting went as close as he needed, before jumping up to do a dunk. That's why he completely let go of the ball in surprise, when the little blonde jumped up and pushed the ball from the other side. The calmness she had exuded before had now turned into intimidation, and his instincts flared up in alarm. That little girl, barely reaching his nose in height, jumped this far up, and seemed to could easily go further…. What was going on?

Lucy was celebrating on the inside though. Her imitation of Kise's imitation of Murasakibara's defense had worked! And, as she expected, it threw Sting way off. Just like it did Jason, one of the commentators of the day, who was more or less screaming into his mic about how 'cool' these new moves were.

She wasn't about to let arrogance and pride take over though, Sting was still a tough opponent. And he was the kind which came back even stronger than before. She couldn't go easy on him for a second.

Alas, she landed on the ground with the ball in her hand and drove right past him. He retaliated quickly though, and made his way to get in front of her defensively. What Lucy had in mind, he couldn't defend against. Barely anyone could.

She ran just past the mid-court line, at a much slower rhythm than Sting was used to, before she jumped into the air. Earthland didn't see many three-pointers, and even fewer with any kind of arc on them. That's why she knew this one would seem impossible to them. Just before reaching the peak of her jump, she pushed the ball into the air at a high arc. She couldn't manage a Midorima-kind of arc, but it was way beyond what was normal both here and at Earth.

And Sting could do nothing but just watch helplessly as the ball flew above his head, way out of his reach, and right down through the hoop.

Once again, she couldn't help the smile which crept its way to her face. She was succeeding. She was out-playing Sting. She was winning! And it was only because of the Miracles, and the Miracles alone.

Sting had the ball once again, and he didn't seem to be ready to give up anytime soon. Rather than that, he looked pissed. His white, Light magic seemed to ooze off of him dangerously, a tell-tale sign of his anger.

She had to somehow get the ball out of his hands…. And she knew just how.

When he set into a slow jog, which soon took on more speed, she moved forward as well. She had to make this work, it wouldn't be as efficient as when the original owner did it, but it didn't have to be. She couldn't disappear like he could, not in a one-on-one like this.

Rather than that, she remembered what Kuroko had told her of his secrets. Misdirection. Directing the attention of the opponent to somewhere else, somewhere, anywhere. He used Kagami, who had a much bigger presence than himself. Likewise, she had someone who would draw Sting's attention.

As she approached, she looked towards Natsu, when one of his yells got especially loud, quickly, as if she was surprised. It was only for a split second, but Sting did the same. That was when she hurried forward, stealing the ball right out of his hands and continued on.

Just like he had the other times, he was quick to snap out of it. "No!" He growled, his magical pressure rising behind her. With the increased speed of his anger and the magic flaring all around him, he quickly caught up to her and came out in front of her.

She quickly took advantage of the speed he'd moved with, and therefore the instability with which he stood the next few seconds, by dribbling even lower and faster. Crossovers, between the legs, anything, as quick as she could, aiming to confuse him, even as she continued to move forward. And she got her reward, when Sting's ankle 'broke' and he fell to his butt on the ground.

She allowed herself to make an Akashi and slowed down to a walk as she passed him. "Sorry Sting, this one's mine." She said before calmly throwing the ball into the net and scoring her third and final goal.

When she heard Sting fall back, hitting his head on the ground behind him in defeat, she breathed out deeply, trying to grab the reigns of her exhaustion. It was only now she felt the toll the three games at full throttle had put on her.

Likewise, she let her 'Commentator and Crowd' filter fall down, and let the permeating silence filter into her head for only a moment longer, before it burst into wild chaos all around. Seems like Sting had been a fan-favorite, whereas she had simply been the underdog. It just made the victory feel even better.

She looked up when she heard Gajeel approaching, a wide grin on his face. "Shit, that was awesome, Bunny-Girl!" He said, high-fiving her. "I almost don't mind losing." Before she could react though, he'd taken a firm hold around her shoulder and was driving his knuckles into her head. "But there won't be a next time…!" He promised her.

"Okay! OW, ow!" She exclaimed. "Gajeel! Stop it, you're ruining my hair!" She said, trying with all her might to push him away. She couldn't hide the happiness that followed her win from him, or anyone else, at all though.

Gajeel laughed and let go of her, laughing even more, when she began flattening her hair on top of her head, where he had messed with it.

When she saw movement from the corner of her eye, her gaze turned to Sting, seeing him slowly hauling himself off the ground, a dark look on his face as he began moving towards his guild. Which, by the way, were looking at him with hard, cold expressions. Maybe she'd gone a little too far… She had basically humiliated Sting… Maybe he would be experiencing the same thing Yukino did now, expulsion?

No. She couldn't think like that. If he'd had the chance, or if this had been a regular fight, he would have mauled her and humiliated her to his heart's content. She couldn't feel guilty because of this, she did the right thing for herself, and for her guild.

Wendy, Erza, Gray and Natsu all hurried down from the balcony and enveloped her in hugs and cheers, all of them knowing that this win was what was going to be the turning point. They were going to win from now on.

"The winner is… Fairy Tail A! - kabo!"

 **There you go guys! Sorry it got a little late.  
I'm sorry about that early chapter that never came to be. I was apparently a little more busy this week than I had expected… Again, I'm sorry, but you got one this week at least!**

 **I hope you guys liked the matches! And the result too XD**

 **Thanks to all who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed! You're awesome!**

 **~Line464d**


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68**

 **So… I actually managed to reply to all of your guys' reviews on the latest chapter. And I know why too. Because I didn't mention anything about it. Crazy, I know, but that's just how my retarded brain works, I guess XD  
And now we're talking reviews, **_**Nemrut**_ __ **I got a reply, of sorts, at the bottom A/N, should you want to read it~**

 **And so! Now we're stepping into the very last match of the Winter Cup! Let's see what I'll be doing about all this**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yet still, neither Kuroko no Basuke nor Fairy Tail belong to me. Welp, it's probably pretty much certain they won't be mine - guess that just means I'll have to create my own things one day~ ^-^**

 **Earth~**

"Ahh! Why is it so cold?!" Lucy asked almost angrily as she threw her arms around herself in a feeble attempt at keeping herself warm. She had gone right from Earthland, in which summer was still going strong. It was basically suicide wearing a long-sleeved shirt back there, for god's sake! And now she was here, where it was suicide not to wear giant tent of a jacket, if you wanted to keep just the slightest bit of your body-heat.

Normally, she would have taken account of this - and she had since returning from Tenrou island, but the day had just been eventful. The first three matches were fairly uneventful, with Sabertooth completely destroying Blue Pegasus - as a cover-up for what they probably saw as a humiliation from the games earlier on. Other than that, the match between Millianna from Mermaid and Semmes from Quatro was just… Meh. Likewise, though a bit more exciting, the match between Wendy and Sheria from Lamia ended out in a draw.

There was one thing that turned all that around though. The match between Laxus and Alexei from Raven Tail. Throughout the first many minutes of the match, to her and everyone else, it looked as if Laxus was being thrown all around the arena like some ragdoll. However, as it turned out, that was just an illusion, while the reality of the situation revealed Raven Tail to be showing their true colors, battling all five on one against Laxus.

Of course, Laxus was a beast, so he actually managed to beat them all. Including Alexei, who turned out to be his father, Ivan Dreyar. Who had apparently been here to try to ruin Fairy Tail still, explaining their quite obvious attempts at this.

However, the revelation that their guild master had been in the team, and because of their dirty methods, they were disqualified from the tournament.

On top of that, suspicion was going around that something shady was going on behind the Grand Magic Games, basically using it as a distraction, which would probably also be looked into by Fairy Tail.

All of that was enough reason for her mind to be too occupied with thoughts of her own world to remember that it wasn't summer at Earth too. Alas her current situation.

"You're an idiot to be wearing that kind of clothes too." Nijimura muttered. When what she could distinctively recognize as a jacket dumped on her shoulders, she looked to the guy, who was now without one. Before she could even think about giving it back, his hand was already gripping her arm, stopping her. "I'll be fine, just keep it." He said, though it was obvious the cold wind was already working its magic on him.

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Shuzo." She thanked him pulling the jacket around herself a little more, having been told to use his first name just a little while ago.

Earlier, she'd run into both him and Shinta, who were with her now. Though she got a comment about her strange clothes, she tried to brush it off as one of her absent-minded oddities and excitement for this day's match - if it worked, she didn't know - and then they decided to go to the Winter Cup together, since what was the most exciting game in the entire tournament was to be played in just a few hours.

Strangely enough, she hadn't been popping up at the Winter Cup building this time around, not her grandmother's house either, just a little outside of it instead. Of course, it meant just a few less looks, than had she been lying on the ground there, with all the people basically migrating to the building, and now she could walk there with the two guys. It hadn't been far away though, and now they were within the area you'd call the Winter Cup stadium.

"Looks like we're a little early." Shinta commented, seeing the mass of people, which had apparently been less than he had expected.

"That, or we're late." Nijimura replied curtly, crossing his arms in an effort to hide his shivers of cold.

Shinta shook his head. "Nah, doubt that." He said confidently. "But let's hurry a bit anyway. To get the good seats." He said, visibly worried for his friend, while Nijimura just replied with a nod.

Lucy smiled gently at the exchange, though she felt guilty for having taken Nijimura's jacket. Their relationship seemed to be almost as close as Natsu's and Gray's, it was just much more subdued. They seemed to completely understand what the other meant without the need to explain it.

It was kind of cute, really.

Her attention was drawn away, when squeals could be heard in the distance and the sound of people muttering between themselves filled the entire area. Following the gazes of everyone, she saw the white and light blue colors of the jerseys walking towards the building from the right of them. That was also when she recognized the words the mutterings were saying. "Look, it's Rakuzan!"

And just as all of them turned a corner made by the parting of the crowd, their gaze caught hers. She immediately raised her arm and waved at all of them, wishing them luck. She got a big grin and wave from Hayama, whereas Nebuya and Mibuchi settled for a nod. Akashi though… Akashi stared blankly into her eyes for a second, before turning around as if she didn't exist at all.

Releasing a shaky breath, she lowered her arm again, watching the team continue into the building. She could only hope, against all odds, that her talking to him and the others would bring things back on track again… It would either do that or the train would derail completely and she'd lose them.

"He'll get around soon enough, don't worry." She heard Nijimura tell her, sending her a little, reassuring smile. She reciprocated it with a nod and a little smile of her own. Hopefully. "Now, let's get inside." He said with a strained voice, somehow managing to hide the clattering of his teeth as he walked a little faster forward.

She exchanged a quick half-amused glance with Shinta, before the both of them hurried to catch up to him.

It seemed Shinta had been right before - they were a little early. But that was only good, it meant they had a better chance at the best seats. And as it turned out, they actually got the front-seats.

"Well, aren't we lucky? We got some of the best seats!" Lucy smiled, quickly shaking Nijimura's jacket off her shoulders and handing it back to him. "Here, thanks for lending it to me." She thanked him.

"No problem." He said, before placing it in the seat which was now his. Shinta did the same, before quickly running off with the excuse that the toilet was calling for him. Muttering something under his breath at his friend, he turned to the blonde. "So…" He started rather awkwardly. "How are things coming along with those… Games? The tournament in your world." He said questioningly, keeping his voice a little low, so as to not draw the attention from anyone around them, though there weren't many.

Momentarily surprised by his interest, she nodded. "Well, it's actually going pretty good." She said, thinking of how the cheering seemed to have turned a bit more in their favor recently. "In the beginning, we really weren't the favored ones at all, it hit us all pretty hard, but… Well, a few wins over the current champions and things are turning for the better." She said, a smile growing on her face naturally as she spoke.

Her win in the basketball-event had completely turned the tides for them. Erza and Cana's efforts in the Pandemonium event and Elfman's win made everyone realize Fairy Tail weren't just pushovers, but somehow her win had been the last thing that tipped it all around. Fairy Tail had basically become the kind of underdogs you cheered for - just like Seirin, really.

She was really proud of having won back there, and it sure didn't help when basically everyone from her own team and guild continued to shower her with compliments. If they weren't careful, her ego might just inflate.

"Well, that sounds good." He agreed. Since she told him and her grandmother about this tournament and that she might be showing up a little… Banged up, he'd been trying to see any signs of battling. Till now, he hadn't seen anything. It either meant she hadn't been battling yet or that she was just too good at hiding any wound she might have. Oh wait… They had a healer, didn't they? That probably explained it.

"Mmh." She agreed. With that, the conversation was brutally murdered.

Fortunately, the heavy silence which settled between them was soon broken when an entire, familiar team settled down beside them. "Fancy seeing you two here." One said. One certain, blue haired guy with an amusedly raised eyebrow.

A companion of his peeped out from behind him and waved at the both of them. "Hi! Lucy-chan, Niji-kun!" A pink haired, girly companion of his.

Lucy smiled at the both of them, and the rest of their team - Tōō. "Hi, guys!" She greeted both Aomine and Momoi, and in length sort of also the entire team.

"Oh. You brats." Nijimura commented, though with a smile at the both of them, as Aomine dumped unceremoniously down in the seat next to Lucy, and Momoi in the seat next to him, though more gracefully.

Right as that was said, footsteps approached them all. "Oh, we've got company?" Shinta asked rhetorically as he returned from the other side, placing himself in the seat next to Nijimura after having greeted the newcomers.

"Hm, looks like we won't have to wait long." Aomine commented, referring to the two teams, which were already going out on the court in order to warm up for the match. Something he easily found out due to the cheering of the crowd. It really told him all he needed to know.

"Well now, that's unusually quick of them. I guess even the organizers can't wait for this match." Imayoshi commented somewhere off at the right. It would be funny if that was actually true.

Looking down, it was obvious both teams knew this match was going to be a difficult one, but that didn't seem to deter any of their spirits or their certainty in their upcoming victory. Likewise, the level was already turned up in the warm-up, each showing off their skills and how much they'd practiced.

But that was to be expected - they were both trying to intimidate the other. Unfortunately, it just didn't work much. Watching them all down there, though… Well, the tension and everything that was riding on this one match was getting heavy, for her at least. It really meant a lot. If Seirin didn't manage to beat them now.. It would be unlikely for them to win in the future. But that also made it that much more exciting to watch what it'd turn out with.

Nonetheless, the end of warm-ups was announced by Seirin yelling out a battle-cry and that the commentator reminded her that he was present as well. "Before we begin, we will introduce both teams." He said, his voice calm for now. "First off, in the black uniforms, we have Seirin High!" He loudly said, sending the crowd out into cheers.

Honestly, she'd almost expected him to begin talking about 'in one corner of the ring' or something like that.

From there he continued to introduce every single member on the team - even the supervising teacher, who was so old he just barely seemed to could stand and bow when introduced. Riko seemed to generally draw a lot of praise with her young age and then the ability to get a no-name team straight to the finals. Likewise, at this point, every single member of Seirin were recognized. Kuroko too.

"Ahh, would ya look at that. Everyone's already completely noticed Tetsu!" Aomine grinned at the little guy, who had once been his best friend.

"Hmm~ but I wonder if that's really a good thing~" Imayoshi hummed suspiciously on the other side of Aomine and Momoi.

Nijimura and Lucy remained silent and just turned in the direction of the Tōō captain, waiting for an elaboration. "What do you mean, Imayoshi?" Momoi asked him curiously.

Though she couldn't see his face, Lucy could clearly imagine that snake-like smile spread out on the guy's face. "Oh, you'll see what I mean soon enough." He promised her and so, also the rest of them.

Meanwhile, the commentator had finished the introduction of Seirin and had continued on to Rakuzan. "And now, the team wearing white, Rakuzan High!" He introduced them. The noise-level of the crowd, their cheers, it was so deafening it was almost impossible to hear it as he went on to introduce the starting line-up of Rakuzan as well. On top of that, every time one of them entered the court after having been introduced, the noise spiked in volume for a moment, making what he was saying even less hearable.

Well… At least she now knew what it just might be like should Fairy Tail stand face-to-face with Sabertooth in the Grand Magic Games like this.

"And with that, let the final match between Seirin High and Rakuzan High begin!" He said as the two teams' line-ups placed themselves in two lines in front of each other and bowed when the judge down there asked them to.

Even before the match had begun, it seemed Seirin were already pulling tricks out of their sleeves to surprise the opposing team, what with Kagami going for the tip-off against Nebuya rather than Kiyoshi.

It was soon revealed that this was a great idea, as the ace of Seirin, with his insane jumping power - at least for earthlings - managed to reach the ball first and throw it back to his team.

From there, Seirin set the pace right up at max, with Hyuuga running ahead and Izuki passing to Kuroko, who proceeded to do an Ignite Pass Kai to Hyuuga. Unfortunately, it was too powerful for him, and the bit of fumbling made it possible for Mibuchi to catch up and stop Hyuuga, sending Rakuzan off into a counter-attack. When the ball landed in Nebuya's hands and he tried dunking it in, somehow Kagami managed to jump in and stop him, before charging right out head-first in a fast-break, a counter of his own, only to have Akashi stand in his way.

The obvious threat Akashi exuded didn't stop him in the slightest though. With the yell 'Meteor Jam', he jumped far above Akashi - who, even with his Emperor Eye, had no chance of keeping up - before hurling the ball straight through the net.

"D-Dai-chan, this is…!" Momoi stammered, surprised with the sudden turn of events. Just like the rest of them, really.

Aomine snorted in laughter. "Can't believe he entered it right away." He smirked, watching with the rest of them the way Kagami's eyes sparked with the power of the Zone.

"But… Isn't this kinda bad for him?" Shinta asked, his arms crossed as he watched the big, redheaded guy down on the court. "The stamina drain caused by being in the Zone is pretty serious, right? Will he even be able to last if he goes on like this?" He asked Aomine, who was by far the most knowledgeable on the topic. Both his own team and everyone else in the immediate area seemed to be having the same question, since their ears were all directed at Aomine.

Aomine sighed, then gave a little nod. "It's kind of like filling a bathtub to the brim with water." He began, not minding the strange look he got from Shinta at the sort of 'for dummies' explanation he was embarking on. "Entering the Zone is like pulling the plug out of that tub. In just moments, the water drains away right in front of your eyes." He explained.

Lucy looked back to the court, where Kagami had followed the first Meteor Jam up with yet another one. "So that means.. He's not going to last?" She asked rhetorically, though she knew that that was exactly was Aomine was saying.

The ace of Tōō nodded quite seriously. "Yeah. If he doesn't cool down, at this rate, he's not gonna last the whole match. He'll run out of gas in the first half." He told them, turning his attention back to the court, where Kagami continued to show off his power in the Zone.

Riko seemed to have realized something as well, as she called for a substitution. Where she subbed Kuroko out for the big, silent guy. As Nijimura pointed out - having been the first to figure it out - they were aiming to let Kagami handle the offense to spare his energy and let the other Seirin players take care of defense.

Soon enough it was made quite clear that it was a good decision, seeing as Seirin turned out to be leading with nine points, 11-2, only three minutes in too. And that also drew a conclusion out of Akashi; something had to be done. His solution was to mark Kagami himself.

Kagami, being who he was, planned to take Akashi head-on and beat him at his own game, staying on offense, and… It worked.

"What the hell…?!" Aomine exclaimed, his voice gradually rising in volume.

Momoi's eyes were equally widened. "Kagami's speed has surpassed even the Emperor Eye?!" They asked, having just witnessed Kagami driving right past Akashi while he was in the middle of stealing the ball from him. Something not yet seen.

They were proven wrong though. When Kagami went for another Meteor Jam right after that drive, somehow he'd gotten out of step - without himself realizing it too - and actually missed the net.

"Ah, I see." Imayoshi muttered. "He forced that guy to take an extra step so the angle to the net was changed, and thus making it impossible for Kagami to score." He explained to those who hadn't caught on. "Heh, this match sends a shiver down my spine already."

Nijimura nodded in agreement. "When Kagami's already going at full speed at the net, it's too late to change anything, and that brat forced him right into it." He added. "It's only because of the way he uses his eye that he could do something like this, not because he has it."

Lucy silently agreed in her own mind. Akashi was probably the sharpest person she knew, if she had to take a guess. You'd have to have the same sharpness and quickness at assessing a situation and reaching a decision to deal with it, to could do something like this.

"Best part of all this is if he doesn't succeed now-" Aomine said while Akashi lead an attack against Kagami, who was marking him as well. "- he'll both be out of the Zone and lose any and all fighting spirit he has." He told them.

Right… Because if he couldn't even beat Akashi at 100%, what could he do then? He would quite literally go from the best possible condition to the worst in an instant. And when it hits the ace, it hits all of them.

As Aomine half predicted, Akashi managed to get an ankle-break in, easily bypassing Kagami, just as he did anyone else he hit with that technique.

Seirin managed to cancel that attack somehow, which at least kept most of their spirits still going, seeing as they managed to do that at least. It put Kagami in a neutral zone - also with the teammate, who was subbed out's, support - where he was neither fired up on a Natsu-level, neither was he thinking it impossible.

From there, they continued to go back and forth till, when there were four minutes left of the 1st quarter, Kuroko was subbed in again. Hearing the crowd all around and the way Mibuchi evaded Kuroko when he was about to stumble into him, she realized what Imayoshi had been talking about earlier.

Kuroko's lack of presence was fading.

With Kagami and Hayama going at it, battling it out with each of their animal instincts, she didn't get much confirmation of her little theory. A little nick was when Mibuchi was able to grace one of Hyuuga's shots, when he'd just gotten the ball from Kuroko and tried to score but that wasn't enough.

Though she was very certain of it already. He was getting a lot of attention from the crowd, and with attention came presence. Likewise, he hadn't been able to shake off his defense, which was unusual for him.

But then it was also proved. Mibuchi stole one of Kuroko's passes.

"Wha… Kuro-kun's pass has been broken?" Momoi asked.

Aomine shook his head, but just as he was about to reply, Lucy jumped in and did it for him. "No, that's not it." She said, making them all turn to her as she watched Akashi explain the very same thing to Kuroko on the court while his team went for the score. "Back in Teiko, Akashi made sure Kuroko would not score, I just figured it out now. If he had let him master scoring, it would inevitably be impossible for Kuroko to hide his presence, since that would give him some kind of attention." She explained, her eyes a little wide at her own realization.

Nijimura quickly caught on to her thinking. "Right, and with the flashy moves he's been doing recently - even making that buzzer-beater against Kaijo - it's impossible for him to stay as a shadow. Too many know him now." He added.

"'In exchange for shining with such imperfect brilliance-" Imayoshi began. "- you will never again be able to become a shadow', he says." The Tōō captain said, having apparently been reading what Akashi told Kuroko.

Seirin fought all they could, even with Kuroko still on the court and trying off all of his techniques, although none of them worked. Somehow they managed to end the first quarter with an equal score of 21, even though Kuroko was just one big hole in the team, not at all a player at the level of the others if you took his misdirection from him.

"Well damn, this match is turning out to be something." Aomine said, leaning back with both of his arms behind his head.

Momoi nodded. "Mmh.. I'm really worried for Kuro-kun, though…" She muttered.

"Oh, you don't have to worry too much." Shinta reassured her. "They let Kuroko stay out there the last minutes to gain some intel on a way of getting him back on track. Looks like they're even filming it all." He said, gesturing to the first year from Seirin, who was indeed sitting with a camera.

Soon enough the second quarter started. Of course, Seirin subbed Kuroko out for that silent, defense-guy, who was to defend against Mayuzumi, a wholly unnoticeable character. Which the crowd also began mumbling about momentarily.

"Hey, Satsuski." Aomine called out to his friend. "Rakuzan's no. 5. What kinda guy is he?" He asked the pinkette, who quickly found the file in her bag.

"Let's see… Mayuzumi Chihiro. Third year power forward. Height; 182 centimeter, weight; 69 kilograms." She started out, all of them listening silently to her. "His speed, power, technique, stamina and other skills are just about c-rank. He doesn't particularly specialize in either offense or defense." She explained, frowning a little at her own information. "Honestly, he's so ordinary it's surprising…" She muttered.

One of the third years of Tōō turned to her. "For a Rakuzan player, aren't those specs really insufficient? Would he be at the level of a substitute player in an average year?" He asked, clearly having more understanding of the ranks and all that than those outside Tōō did.

Momoi shook her head. "No… Lower than that." She said, getting a surprised gasp-like breath from the guy. "He only started getting sent out as a regular player in his third year… A while after Akashi-kun joined them." She explained. "Before that, he wasn't even on the bench, let alone part of the first string." She told them.

"Huh, the hell? Isn't that basically the same as with someone we know?" He asked hintingly, making both Lucy's and Momoi's eyebrows shoot all the way up to the roots of their hair. Kuroko!

And just like that, Mayuzumi went and did exactly what Kuroko was so known for - misdirection. The invisible pass. Right in front of Seirin.

"Shit." Lucy muttered. This was really, really bad. Not only for how he'd affect the game with misdirection, but also the psychological effect this would have on Kuroko and Seirin.

Nijimura nodded with a grim expression on his face. "To put it lightly." He agreed. "And not only that, this guy's much more well-rounded that Kuroko's ever been. He's like the upgraded version of Kuroko." He added.

And right as he was, Seirin's own plays were fired right back at them, only by someone much more capable as an ordinary player than Kuroko. If he was halted from passing, he simply instead jumped up and scored himself. Entirely ordinarily too.

This made Seirin pull out a move they'd pulled out in one of their earlier matches as well. They subbed Mitobe out for that one first year, who was so incredibly timid it was ridiculous. Not only that, they switched Izuki to Mayuzumi and that first year to mark Akashi. Not that he was able to do that, he was both frozen and shaking like a leaf at the same time, just because of the pure pressure Akashi exerted.

"I can't help but see a Chihuahua standing in front of a lion right now." Aomine commented, as confused with the situation as any of them. Including the Rakuzan players. Especially Nebuya seemed to be freaking out, even going as far as asking Kiyoshi to sub him out again. Well, it wasn't for no reason, the poor first year just tripped over nothing. Much like Wendy.

Though Lucy had a feeling they actually had a pretty good plan with subbing that guy out. He'd worked wonders before, and he was probably going to do the same again. Though he was also quickly subbed out again, back then.

And right as she was, the guy wasn't meant to actually guard against Akashi, he was just there to force Akashi to penetrate the inside and therefore not make three-pointers. From there, it was up to Kagami to stop him. Since he couldn't dribble in the cramped space of the inside, ankle break was impossible.

Akashi still managed to score, though with the help of the rebound being pushed in by Nebuya. But that whole thing resulted in Mayuzumi - and the others as well - underestimating the first year. And somehow, that actually gave him an opportunity to score a goal that was so ordinary it was the kind of shots you practiced thousands of times in practice.

Seirin continued with this strategy, though changed the first year when the first one's stamina was drained from Akashi's pressure. Though with both teams relying on their point guards, Hyuuga and Mibuchi, to score.

As expected, this resulted in an exchange of 3-pointers from both of them. When one scored, so did the other. And none of them had figured the others' shot out enough to could defend against it. However, it was obvious which of them was being pressured. Especially because Mibuchi had two different kinds of shots - later revealed to be three, in which the defender was forced to remain on the ground and just watch - whereas Hyuuga only had one. Those really weren't good odds for the Seirin captain.

When Hyuuga's shot was figured out, with Mibuchi even going so far as to draw a foul, Kiyoshi asked for the ball. And with that, started the round of Kiyoshi versus Nebuya. Much like with Hyuuga and Mibuchi though, Nebuya was overwhelming Kiyoshi to the point of being forced to pass the ball.

"Ahh, this is too bad." The tall guy commented, drawing the confused attention of both girls. "It was the right move, it was with Hyuuga too, but it's too bad." He continued.

Aomine leaned back in his seat and took over when the two girls continued to look confused.. "Passing and having to pass are not the same at all. And it was the last of those two just now." Aomine told them.

Imayoshi took on from here. "They may not realize it themselves yet, but they've already fallen." He said darkly. "Just look at the scores." He said.

35-50. "A 15-point difference…?!" Lucy muttered out, wondering when in the world it'd come to this point.

"Seirin didn't choose the wrong plays." The Tōō captain continued. "And yet the difference is steadily increasing. That means it's a difference of power." He said. A difference in power… You can't cheat your way out of that, Lucy knew that much from her own world.

"Yeah, but what about Akashi down there?" Shinta pointed out. "He's giving as much attention to those first years as you would an ant. He's really not doing anything special down there." He commented.

Nijimura nodded. "Izuki, I think his name was, isn't doing great either with guarding Mayuzumi." He said. "He's not doing nothing, but he isn't really sealing him either." He said just as Mayuzumi entered one of Izuki's blind spots while he was preoccupied and managed to redirect a pass, as if to point out what Nijimura said. "It seems they'll really be needing Kuroko if they want to win this."

They had no way to win though. With both Hyuuga and Kiyoshi outmatched and Izuki at the limit of what he could do, the foundation of their team was done. They continued to swap the first years around, but their plan wasn't effective any longer.

Things were truly looking really bleak for Seirin. They needed a miracle if they wanted to win this… But with Kuroko out of commission, Kagami pretty much countered by Hayama and a fumbling first year… The 25-point difference made it seem hopeless for them to achieve victory.

It was clear for everyone to see Seirin had completely lost hope by the end of the second quarter. Their heads were held low as they went to the back to strategize.

With that kind of spirits they had no chance of winning. She had compared them with Fairy Tail many times, they were the kind of people who bounced back when things were looking impossible, just like her own guild did. Natsu would say something that would encourage all of them, and somehow they would find the strength to keep fighting.

But who was their Natsu? And did they have one? If they did though… Had he also lost his spirit by now?

 **Yup. Indeed, I am leaving it off right here. On a nice cliffhanger. I hate myself too, don't worry. As usual, I wanted to end this whole match in this chapter, but I never seem to be able to do that. Alas, it will be finished next time, I'm afraid. Hope you enjoyed, though~**

 **As for your review, Nemrut. First off, I want you to know I am eternally grateful for it, obviously it was something I needed to be told.  
That doesn't change the fact that I was in denial for a long period of time though. I thought things like; "Please, Lucy didn't have any effect on their basketball at all - she wasn't there when it was the most important", "Sure, she's stronger than she is in cannon! It's just that her magic was cancelled! What was she supposed to do?" and so on and so forth. Pathetic excuses, really.  
But. After the more logical and rational part of my messed-up brain took over and pushed the emotional, denying part away, it's quite clear you're quite right. And thank you very much for bringing it to my attention. Should've thought of it, really, but… I don't even know why it didn't. Though. While you're absolutely right, I do think it's a bit too late to be changing things all around now - and I'm not about to put it on hiatus now to re-write it. Alas, things will remain as they are, flawed or not.  
But still, for the third time, thank you. Those things will be part of my deliberations with the next stories I'll be writing for sure! So… Yeah. Love constructive criticism, I just need to get over myself before I can actually use it as it is intended. XD **

**Anywho. Thanks to everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed, even if you're not reading this part, I still appreciate you to the ends of the universe and back~**

 **~Line464d**


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69**

 **I just realized… I've probably not proofread the last 5-10 chapters… Well damn. Someone's behind…. XD  
Of course, this means this hasn't been either. So watch out for grammar-mistakes~!  
** _ **Edit: It's a working progress, which is apparently not something I just get done, because why would I ever?**_

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: As per pure logic, I don't own either Fairy Tail or Kuroko no Basuke. If I did, I wouldn't be needing to write any fanfiction, now would I? **

**Earth~**

Lucy couldn't help thinking she should be going down to Seirin and tell them to keep fighting. Be their Natsu. But… Well, it would be strange. And wrong. None besides Kuroko and Kagami really knew her, so she would basically just be intruding. It'd be really weird. She wasn't a part of that team in the slightest.

Besides that, it'd no doubt make Akashi hate her even more. Though she had already decided that she hoped Seirin would win, she didn't want to so obviously pick sides.

And maybe, if she did actually go and play Natsu down there, it would just make Akashi play all the more seriously, since he'd want to show that he could beat both Lucy and Seirin, maybe.

Basically. It just wouldn't work out if she did that. No matter what she did, she'd just intrude on their match. So it was really for the best that she just remained a spectator in this one, even if it was difficult.

"Hey, Heartfilia." She heard Aomine ask her, his voice almost down to a whisper and a big grin on his face.

"Yeah, Daisuki-chan?" She asked, watching his excited expression in wonder.

"You don't wanna give me a taste of what you're gonna tell us all, do you?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows as if that would make her more likely to let him know.

As a reflex, her one eyebrow raised, as she looked at the blue-haired guy incredulously. "So… You want to know before everyone else, is that it?" She asked him, to which she got a nod and another big grin. "I see… Imagine you're going in to watch a movie, Daisuki-chan." She said, getting a strange face from the guy, but a slow nod nonetheless. "All right, now imagine Sat-chan revealed the entire plot of the movie. How'd that feel?" She asked.

He frowned. "That would obviously be annoying. Especially because she might just do that." He said, sending a glance back at Momoi, who, judging from her pouty expression, clearly had heard their conversation.

Lucy smiled. "Yup, and there's the answer to your question."

"What…?" Aomine asked slowly, before it clicked in his head. "But it's not the same at all!" He complained.

Lucy shrugged, having turned her attention to the still empty court, which was currently being cleaned for the next round to begin. "I, as a person, don't advocate spoilers, so just deal with it." She told him, earning an annoyed grunt.

This just showed her, more than anything else, that telling them was way overdue. She was probably also just worried for no reason. Yes, she may be capable of summoning people from a whole other world, and actually be from a third one herself, but she was still _her_ , right? They'd accept her even if that was the truth, she was pretty sure of that. Nijimura did that, so why wouldn't the rest of them too?

Either way, it would end out the way it would… She'd just have to take it from there, when it all came to it.

With that concluded in her mind, the speakers also spoke up. "The intermission is over. Now the third quarter will commence." Looking down, both teams were also appearing at each of their benches, now switched around because of the change of halves.

Immediately as every player had gathered on the court, the Seirin team gathered in their circle. "Let's go SEIRIN!" Hyuuga yelled loud enough to completely overwhelm any and all talk going on in the big arena. He was awarded with a responding 'FIGHT!' from the rest of his team.

Lucy smiled at it. It seemed they had their own Natsu after all, it really was for the best she'd just kept her ass planted on her seat. Of course they wouldn't give up, especially now the point-difference was as big as it was. They were most likely actually at their very best right now.

"A last-ditch effort to keep their hopes up, huh?" Nijimura muttered, primarily to himself.

Last-ditch or not, it worked. They still had hope so they could still win, and that was exactly what made it possible for them to go right ahead and make the first three-pointer within only ten seconds from the beginning of the third quarter.

Their chances of managing, looking statistically and objectively at it all, was probably below one percent. However. If she had learnt anything from being with Fairy Tail, it was that numbers like that didn't matter as long as there was still hope and a fighting spirit to back it up.

Aomine didn't seem to agree. "They have no chance." He replied to one of his teammates. "And that's because Akashi's there. Akashi never yields. Little by little, he'll strangle the life out of them, until there is absolutely no possibility of them winning at all." He said, his blue eyes seemingly having taken on a cold nuance.

As if to confirm what Aomine just said, Mibuchi confused both Hyuuga with a sudden change in technique as well as the judge, and drew the third foul from the Seirin captain.

Five fouls meant that he would be disqualified for the rest of the game, so many benched a player who had four fouls. That's why when someone was at their third foul, usually they would play much more cowardly…

Akashi had known this, and had made sure to tell all of his teammates of how to strangle the last glimmer of hope, to use Aomine's words.

What's more, Hyuuga seemingly didn't even touch Mibuchi at all, but when he argued and asked for the judge's understanding, it only got him the fourth foul.

"Goddammit, Hyuuga." Shinta almost hissed. "You know better than to argue with a judge." He mumbled, all of them watching as Hyuuga was switched out for Mitobe.

"Certainly." Imayoshi piped in. "It was an unforgivably foolish move on his part." He harshly said. "But who can blame him? That's just how badly he wants to win."

Lucy watched with worry as the match continued. It was clear that the only string of hope left on the court was Kagami, and since he was marking and being marked by Akashi, the smaller redhead had all the possibilities in the world to do a repeat of what Mibuchi managed to do with Hyuuga. If Kagami went down, Seirin would go down with him.

And that's why it was also blatantly obvious the Seirin ace wished for nothing other than to get into the Zone again. But as Aomine pointed out, that was just now how the Zone worked. It only let the gates open for you, when you weren't desperately wishing and trying to open them.

And so, with Kagami's head distracted, Akashi could easily steal the ball from Kagami, with no sign of even the slightest difficulty present.

This made Seirin call for a time-out. To say they needed something to spark things up again would be putting it lightly. It seemed like they had all reached the conclusion that things were not going to work out for them this time around. Someone needed to do something or the one percent would go down to zero…

"… Want to win!" Kuroko's voice just barely managed to reach up to her and the others. "Even if it's pointless..! Even if there's no chance of it happening!" He said, having risen from his seat. "I want to become the number one team in Japan with everyone!" He called out.

"That's admirable and all, but what're they gonna do? Aren't all their options exhausted already?" Shinta asked mostly rhetorically.

"Yeah, bu-" Nijimura was cut off before he could even begin.

"I believe in Tetsu-kun!" Momoi exclaimed, looking intently down at the Seirin team. "He will figure something out for sure!" She promised, as the match started out again, announcing the substitution of a black player. Kuroko for Mitobe.

It quickly became clear, just by the crowd's reaction alone, that Kuroko's lack of presence hadn't returned to him. Rakuzan knew this too. But still, Seirin hung in there and managed to score a goal.

Kuroko proceeded to mark Mayuzumi. Mayuzumi was still more skilled than Kuroko and he would score once in a while. Thing was, that seemed to be exactly what Seirin wanted. Mayuzumi, though better stat-wise than Kuroko, was still the lowest of Rakuzan. So they intentionally let him score, knowing he'd have higher chances of missing than any of the others. That was why Kuroko was marking him.

Of course, as to not lose, Seirin scored on their own as well. It didn't shrink the gap between them, but at least it remained the same.

It quickly became obvious Mayuzumi was getting annoyed with their blatantly obvious opinion of his skills, and alas he scored every single goal.

"Wait… I know what Tetsu-kun's doing!" Momoi suddenly sprang forward in her seat.

"Yeah, Satsuki, we all figured that out a while ago. They're letting the weakest player score, because he has a lower success-rate." Aomine replied, sighing. "Jeez. And I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Momoi looked at her childhood friend with an angry pout. "No! It's not that, Aomine-kun!" She said angrily. "Kuroko's making Mayuzumi score so that they'll be reversed!" She said, her eyes lighting up.

Lucy looked at the pinkette with wide eyes. Why hadn't she realized this earlier? "You're right! By making Mayuzumi score by getting right past him, he'll change everyone's attention from himself to Mayuzumi instead!" She elaborated for those who hadn't caught on.

"So this is Tetsu getting his lack of presence back?" Aomine asked, just as Kuroko went and disappeared from the court, only to appear in the middle of a pass. "Guess it is." He confirmed.

"Way to go, Tetsuya!" Lucy cheered. And best thing about all this was, he was much more careful with using his flashy techniques now, he simply settled for stealing and passing around and generally not drawing any attention to himself, thanks to Akashi. Well, he probably couldn't anyway. It didn't matter though, it made it possible for Seirin to move forward and score much more confidently than before, knowing he'd somehow have their back.

The only strange thing was that he hadn't done his signature move yet - passing. He hadn't made a single of his impossible passes yet.

"I can answer that." Nijimura said suddenly. She'd said that out loud? "It's simple really. Mayuzumi is capable of reproducing Kuroko's misdirection perfectly. But because they both have the same, they're resistant to it. So instead, Kuroko is creating another pattern of misdirection that Mayuzumi isn't resistant to." He explained.

"Well… That makes sense." Shinta commented.

"Even if he does that, it not enough to beat Akashi." Aomine told them, putting a damper on any excitement that might've jumped up.

"Then what about Kagami being in the Zone too, 'Daisuki-chan'?" Imayoshi mocked him.

The initial reaction from Aomine was growling at his former captain, but then the words sunk in and his attention whipped straight down to Kagami, who was facing Akashi, his eyes glowing with the power of the Zone. "… I don't know."

Earlier on, in the first quarter, Akashi had still beaten Kagami even though he was in the Zone, but… This time Kuroko was also making his way back. The two of them combined.. Plus the others. Wasn't that the recipe of a big opportunity?

"Huh, looks like he's trying something new out." Shinta said, commenting on the pretty big distance Kagami suddenly put between himself and his mark.

Akashi seemed to realize what was going on at the same time Aomine did. "That bastard.. He's really deep into the Zone." He grunted.

Kagami's radius of defense reached much further now, thanks to his animal instinct being heightened even more in this state, alongside everything else. And apparently, he was deeper in the Zone this time than he had been earlier.

While Akashi was frozen on the spot, trying to figure out what he could do, an opportunity presenting itself a Mayuzumi appeared, and made it possible for Akashi to pass the ball on to Nebuya, also proving that the process of overwriting Mayuzumi wasn't quite completed yet either.

Kuroko continued to play on Mayuzumi's instincts, which were stronger than his own, in regards to basketball, forcing him to drive past and score. Kuroko's will to remain in the shadows and disregard his instincts was simple stronger than the Rakuzan player's. Kagami, now in the Zone and with that ridiculous radius of his, took the ball Mayuzumi attempted to score, all the while putting immense pressure on the entire Seirin team, seeing as he was able to stop Akashi himself in his tracks.

Generally, it was just one big step forward for Seirin, a breath of air to strengthen the fire of determination within all the Seirin players. Kuroko's presence was gradually overshadowed by Mayuzumi's, and so he could pass around to everyone using his new misdirection, and Kagami's pressure forced them down a notch.

They were still threading on thin ice, no doubt about that, but the spark of hope it brought far outweighed any risk it may bring with it.

Alas, this forced Rakuzan to call for a time-out. They were going to play it safe, which was without a doubt the smartest way to do things.

"They'll probably be pulling Mayuzumi out now." Nijimura commented. "Kuroko's 'revival' - so to speak - all rides on Mayuzumi being there. With him out, there will be nothing to overwrite Kuroko and it'll go back to where it all started."

"Yeah… Buuuut most importantly." Imayoshi said, a dangerously playful tone in his voice. "This all took place right under Akashi's nose. He'll be mad, no doubt." He said.

And looking down at where he, despite his small frame, was basically towering over Mayuzumi ominously, she ventured the guess that Imayoshi was right. Though the conversation going on down there… It didn't look like Akashi was threatening the guy as such…

Nonetheless, as the match started up again with Rakuzan on the attack, it turned out they decided not to pull Mayuzumi out after all. They let him stay in, and still up against Kuroko no less. What was going on..

That was when Akashi reached into Kagami's radius of defense, ball in hand too. It was hard to see from up where she was, but as she kept her gaze on Akashi passing the ball to Mibuchi right under Kagami's nose, she realized what was going on.

"Right now, Akashi has no more expectations of Mayuzumi, he only has on use. He's used as a tool for passes to be let through." Aomine explained.

Akashi had used the increased amount of attention Mayuzumi was getting to use misdirection himself. Just like Kuroko could, Akashi misdirected Kagami's attention to Mayuzumi, who was the one with more presence at the moment, and so away from the ball in long enough time to pass it to Mibuchi. It was literally a carbon copy of Kuroko had done in earlier games.

"Man, that's scary. To really care about your teammates so little to use them as tools like that…" Shinta muttered.

Lucy could only agree as she watched the match go on with both sides scoring and defending equally. The gap was still not changing. And the way they continued to take advantage of Mayuzumi was nothing less than heartless. From the beginning, it was quite clear his mental state wasn't of the stronger sort, and she knew Akashi knew that too, so this was hitting him too hard.

Yet… He continued to do his job. Not because he wanted to, obviously, but because he too was wearing the jersey and on the court.

On the defensive side of things, Izuki, Koganei and Kiyoshi were barely keeping up with the three Uncrowned Kings, who continuously received the ball and went on a one-on-one against them. It was a waiting-game, where Rakuzan waited for Kagami's Zone to run out with his stamina and Seirin continued to fight to find and utilize openings.

Nonetheless, none of the sides were about to give up at all, they just kept on fighting. Kept on trying to figure out a weakness in the others' defenses and offenses.

And so, with a point difference with 20 still, the third quarter ended. Seirin definitely fought hard against the difference in skill there was between the two teams, keeping the point difference from growing, but.. If they wanted to win this, they'd have to do more than just that.

Alas, when the fourth quarter began, they brought in Hyuuga to substitute Koganei, who had been up against Mibuchi. And immediately, just like in the beginning of the third quarter, he was given the ball and scored a three-pointer right above Mibuchi.

"The pressure's probably killing that guy, but Seirin seriously need him if they want to have a chance at winning this." Aomine commented.

Lucy nodded silently. None of the others could score three-pointers with the same certainty that Hyuuga could, so to have the chance to catch up with Rakuzan, they'd need him to score the three pointers. That was just a lot of pressure to put on one person, when he also had four fouls dangling over him dangerously.

He didn't let it get to him though as he continued to fight Mibuchi head-on, now able to distinguish between the three different forms the Rakuzan player had, and which he would be using - even if it was fake.

"Ohh, look at this now. I think Kiyoshi's going to throw his leg-injury to the wind and go all-out now..! This is going to be interesting!" Imayoshi said, actually sounding a bit excited.

Lucy remembered Seirin's previous match, where Kiyoshi was pulled out of the match…That had been because of this leg injury then? So what Imayoshi was saying, was that all this time Kiyoshi had put a limiter on himself to keep from overexerting that injury? And that now he'd just go ahead and play no matter what it meant for his leg? It would be dangerous for him, but.. It was the kind of power-up Seirin needed.

Hyuuga realized the same thing, and shouted his approval, when he saw Mibuchi's shot was going to be missing. So, with a speed he hadn't shown before, Kiyoshi easily spun around Nebuya and caught the ball for himself, without Nebuya ever having a chance of getting it himself.

With Kiyoshi having had his power-up, Hyuuga back on the court, Kuroko back on track, if even just a little, and Kagami in the Zone, while Izuki had Hayama all figured out… Seirin were indeed at their strongest right now, most likely. Not to mention they went and got three baskets in a row right from the beginning, bringing the score down to a 12-point difference.

And now they were even more fired up than they had been before.

With that, they decided to go ahead and right into a full-court man-to-man defense, in which every defender marked one of the Rakuzan members. Like that, with Kagami's range, it was impossible for Akashi to pass the ball around without Kuroko being able to figure out and interfere with it.

The continuous scoring of Seirin's also seemed to have quite the effect on Akashi. Though it was hard to tell from where Lucy sat, she was pretty sure she just witnessed Akashi giving Mibuchi a very cold stink-eye after giving him an order. His darker side seemed to be even more prominent the more pressure he was put under…

Strangely, though… What he'd probably ordered Mibuchi was for him and the other three to go in the offense without him, because for some reason, he just stood there in the back underneath the basket, his eyes closed in concentration.

Meanwhile, Seirin pushed the strange move out of their minds and concentrated on defending against the four which were there. Managing to steal the ball, Kagami charged right ahead at Akashi with his Zone flaring up in his eyes. This goal should be an 'easy' one, with just Akashi there, but.. Somehow she had a really bad feeling about this.

"Ah-ah, Bakagami, that's not a good idea." Aomine muttered to himself, his eyes wider than usual as he kept his gaze locked on the two redheads.

As Aomine predicted, it really was no good idea for Kagami to come running like that, because suddenly, the ball was out of his hands and within Akashi's, whose voice then rang throughout the arena as if he'd been speaking in a mic. "To all of you gathered here, in this place… I will show you the difference in our positions." He promised, his eyes sparking with the light of the Zone.

"Dangit, and it was just going so well for them down there." Shinta grumbled, clearly being on the side of the underdogs in this.

Personally, Lucy was just staring absently down there as Kagami tried and failed to keep up with the smaller red head. She hadn't known he'd even be capable to get into that state of mind… What was the price of getting there? - Because she was sure there was one.

Predictably, when Hyuuga and Izuki ganged up to try and defend the court from Akashi, they were hit by Akashi's trademark move, the ankle break. But… Not without a little tweak to it. "Kneel." He said, as the two landed in a kneeling position. He had that much control over how his opponents could land, he could make them kneel? Just like that?

Then Kiyoshi and Kuroko attempted the same, but Akashi effortlessly walked past them and scored. As if they were mere toddlers standing against him. It was really that effortless. Maybe even more than that, because toddlers would cling to your legs like leeches in such a situation.

Imayoshi chuckled darkly. "This guy… 'And thus, by witnessing my glorious form, you should now realize that your defeat is absolute', eh?" He cited what Akashi had said, apparently, amusedly.

"Of course you'd think this situation fun, Imayoshi." Aomine grunted, his arms crossed as he stared down at the court, where Riko once again called for a timeout.

"He didn't even spare his own teammates a single glance." Nijimura commented. "It's more than just that he 'stopped' using his teammates, it's like he doesn't have a single expectation from them any longer." He continued, his eyes wide at the realization as well.

Shinta nodded. "Yeah, he's completely abandoned those guys, to take on all of Seirin by himself." He agreed. "Just look at those guys, they knew this was coming." He referred to the downcast, almost inconsolable expressions all three Uncrowned Kings were wearing.

The timeout was short and obvious to read, looking from above. Just like usual, all of them relied on Kagami to take down Akashi, by his own asking, without a doubt. Just like they had previously. On the other hand, no one was saying a word on Rakuzan's side. Hardly even looking at each other at all.

"Aomine, you said earlier that Kagami was really deep in the Zone. Would you care to elaborate on that?" Imayoshi asked Aomine.

Sending the guy a strange expression, he agreed. "You gonna need your imagination for this." He started out, before going ahead and explaining. "When you're playing, you're not just in the game, but also in your own head." He said, looking at Imayoshi to see if he was following. "When you enter the zone, there's a huge door there. You open that and when you open it, it's like you're submerged in water." He said, pausing to let Imayoshi process." As your concentration grows, you kinda sink deeper and deeper into that water. And as you sink deeper, at some point you reach the bottom. That's where you've really entered the Zone. Where you bring out your full performance and really give it your all." He explained.

Like Imayoshi, Lucy, Momoi, Nijimura, Shinta and the rest of the Tōō team also listened intently to what he was saying, seeing as he was the only one out of all of them, who had real-life experience with it. Lucy knew next to nothing about it, other than it was kind of like Dragon Force for the Dragon Slayers.

"Once you're there, you'll find another huge door." He continued to explain. "And standing in front of that door is a faceless figure. Something like a gate-keeper or something." He finished off.

"So this is all what's inside Aomine's imagination." Imayoshi concluded. "Let's assume that the gate-keeper is also you, Aomine. And let's also assume that if you can overcome the you who is the gate-keeper somehow, then that door will open. To come to that conclusion is natural." He stated.

"Dunno." Aomine simply replied. "I've never gone further than to that door itself. Never opened it. But I'm sure that beyond that door is a Zone that surpasses the Zone." He said, his arms crossed over his chest. "And if Kagami wants to have even the slightest possibility of winning against Akashi, he has to open that door." He explained, looking at the Seirin ace with a scrutinizing look, as if trying to see if Kagami would be able to do it at all.

There was still a 12-point difference that he had to close, and with Akashi being at the state he was now, Lucy had to agree with Aomine. He'd somehow held Akashi fairly at bay until now, with only some passes coming through, but that was when Akashi wasn't in the Zone. He'd be incomparably strong now. Not only on offense, it seemed like he was aiming to take care of defense by himself too now.

As half expected, Akashi seemed to manage just fine on his own too. Beating Seirin and Kagami both when on the defense and offense. Not letting a single of their goals land and landing every single one on his own.

Soon enough, it was obvious it was taking a toll on Kagami. So, when the ball went out-of-bounds and the Seirin ace went to get it, Kuroko approached him. She couldn't hear it clearly, but she caught a little part of what Kuroko said. "… Give up on playing by yourself…" That was all she could hear, but it was also enough.

Kuroko was right though. Every time, Kagami had played against the Generation of Miracles, it had always been by himself, as they clashed, both in the Zone. It never truly included the rest of his team. Maybe that was the single kink to this situation? Maybe that was all there was needed for him to win.

And so, Kagami also agreed to take Kuroko and the team's help in beating Akashi.

Even though they passed around outside of Akashi's range, and let the ball end up with Kiyoshi, who needed to do nothing more than jump to get the ball in, Akashi still caught up and slammed the ball away.

Not only that though, he caught the ball himself again and went straight ahead into a counter. Of course, both Kagami and Kuroko were already ready to stand in between him and his goal, just not the usual way you'd double-team an opponent. Rather than standing beside each other, they stood right behind each other - Kagami at the front and Kuroko behind.

So, of course, Akashi thought it no problem to pass. Faking to one side, he continued to drive to the other. However, while Kagami went to the side he faked towards, Kuroko went to the one he didn't. "He kept his focus on Kagami, not Akashi." She murmured.

Kuroko was a very perceptive guy, especially when it was about his own teammates and friends. So he would no doubt be able to read Kagami, who he'd been playing with so much now, much easier than he would Akashi, because he hadn't been playing as much with this Akashi as he had Kagami.

That perceptiveness was something he'd gotten himself, because it was essential for misdirection. He had to know the ones he was up against fairly well for the misdirection to have the most effect. But it still would work best on his teammates though, he could easily read their slightest movements and predict ahead of time what they'd do. Much like how Akashi did, but Kuroko's was solely for his teammates and could probably predict further ahead. You could call it his own Pseudo-Emperor Eye.

As such, he pushed the ball right out of Akashi's hands, much to the surprise of everyone present. And he did it so that the ball landed straight into Kagami's hands.

Alas, while Kagami moved on forward, Akashi stood stock-still, with his back to his opponent, who was now easily overwhelming his teammates.

Well, that was until something akin to a battle-cry erupted from him and he rushed right after Kagami at what she'd guess was his full speed. And with Kagami speeding down to could get past the other Rakuzan players, it was no problem for him to catch up and get into a defensive position in front of him, starting another one-on-one between the redheads.

But once again, Kuroko was hiding behind Kagami, so when Kagami moved to one side, he somehow passed the ball to Kuroko out of Akashi's vision, and thus drew Akashi after him, letting Kuroko go the other way around the former captain of the Miracles.

Of course, this meant that Akashi hesitated for a moment to figure out where to go, which gave Kuroko the chance to pass the ball to Kagami again, while he was mid-air towards the goal, doing their famous alley-oop technique.

Nonetheless, Akashi still jumped up in an effort to defend. But it was too late already, Kagami slammed it in right above the smaller redhead.

For the first time ever, she imagined, Akashi was knocked down to sit on the court himself, with his opponent being the one towering above him, just like so many had had it done to them. The expression on his face was nothing but the purest shock.

"Isn't this the first time since high school that Akashi's been knocked down?" Shinta asked. To her, with what she knew now, it sounded a little naïve of him.

Aomine shook his head. "No, this is the first time ever. Akashi has never been on the ground like this ever." He told him.

Lucy nodded. "It's the first time, probably ever since he was born, that he's gotten a taste of defeat." She said. Her focus was on Akashi alone. She was trying to gauge his reaction, trying to see what was going on in his head, understand him.

It was clear he was shaken. Though he still went toe-to-toe with Kagami, when he shot, he actually missed.

"Damn… This is the first time I've seen Akashi like this." Aomine muttered in a low voice.

Momoi nodded. "His heart's a mess right now, and… His mind is so distracted." She agreed. "Look, he's even out of the Zone." She said, her voice a little sad.

The blonde mage was also worried for Akashi. She hadn't seen him quite like this either, not even when he was young and a bit more open to her. He wasn't quite like this back then.

On the other hand, Kagami was still hanging onto his Zone with tooth and nail. Now there was actually hope for Seirin, it was easier to hold onto she imagined. But he was reaching his limit too.

When the gap was put down to a ten-point difference, Akashi continued to make more and more mistakes. Something Akashi never did. He was always such a perfectionist, precise in every move he made, he always thought things through. Most especially when he was on the court. This was so unlike Akashi it was scary.

Seirin called for a timeout, probably to figure out what to do now, and Akashi walked all zombie-like towards the bench, his mind entirely caught up in something going on inside of him. Maybe.. Was it his two sides communicating? Was that what was going on? It was clear that he wasn't listening to Eiji, anyway.

"To think Akashi has such a frail side to him." Imayoshi commented. "Well, I guess having his Emperor Eye beaten like that must be a shock." He said, the snake-like feeling about him only growing stronger.

Lucy felt guilty that she'd wished for this. She had wished for Seirin to win, so that he might revert to who he once was, to get rid of all that darkness lurking inside him, but she had never though he would be shaken to this degree… Not quite this much.

It only showed once again, when he passed to Mibuchi and made it way too high. The stubbornness of when he usually made a decision was gone too..? The precision of throwing was way off...

She could only hope this was but a momentary thing. That, once he had had time to consider things, it would calm down.

But with Akashi down like this, it meant the whole Rakuzan team was wavering. Both from the shock of Akashi being beaten, his current self, and how he'd completely disregarded them earlier. Alas, Mibuchi was off-rhythm and missed his shot.

Like this, Seirin steadily caught up, while Rakuzan didn't move an inch. The gap between the scores quickly diminished with each round, Kagami scoring several balls in a row, at some point bring it all down to a one-point difference.

This was also when it got enough for Nebuya. "Gimme a fuckin' break!" He growled loudly, grabbing the hem of Akashi's jersey roughly and pulling him up from the ground. "Even a goddamn elementary schooler could pass better than you right now! Who the hell do you even think put us in this stupid fucking predicament?! Get your fucking act together Akashi, you bastard!" Nebuya basically yelled right into the redhead's face, just as Eiji called for a timeout.

Lucy frowned at the Rakuzan center. Couldn't he see what kind of state of mind Akashi was in right now? Didn't he realize it would do more hurt than good to yell at him like that? What the hell did he even think he was doing, treating Akashi like this?!

"Calm down, Lucy. He's not made of glass, you know." Nijimura reassured her, his voice kept fairly low.

Lucy whipped around to glare at him, but only for a moment, before she nodded and sighed. "I know.." She calmed herself down. He was right, he was right. She had to remember what Midorima had told her, not be too big-sisterly with them. They were too old for this now.

"Even if we were, with that woman protecting our asses, we won't get a single scratch, that's for sure." Aomine snorted, with a big grin on his face, while he laughed to himself.

Nijimura looked at her with a raised brow, to which she replied with a shrug. Yeah, that was one of the reasons it was about time to tell them all too.

Suddenly, a warning signal blasted off in her mind, and she looked down at Akashi immediately. What she saw was Mayuzumi now also towering above Akashi, probably saying spiteful words to him. Either way, it was clear it hit a nerve.

"That Mayuzumi-fellow's sure not taking it easy on Akashi. To say the person in front of him is not the same as the one who he'd met earlier. Harsh." Imayoshi said amusedly, having way too much fun with this situation.

"… What?" Lucy muttered and looked down at Akashi. Had… Had the other side of Akashi, the original side, fought down the 'dark' one? Judging from the strange expression from his teammates as he rose to his feet, it seemed like she was right. Just the fact that Akashi seemed to be apologizing to his teammates was proof enough of that.

As the timeout was called to an end and the two teams met on the court, it was clear to see on Kagami that the kind of pressure Akashi exuded now was different from the way it used to be. He pushed it away though, to face the Rakuzan captain head-on, Kuroko behind him for support.

But then, when Akashi moved forward, Kagami going to one side and Kuroko the other, it seemed like Kuroko realized who was back in control again. The distraction served as a great opportunity for Akashi to pass the ball to Mibuchi, who proceeded to score it perfectly without hitting the hoop.

And just to further prove the transformation, Akashi even complimented Mibuchi for the shot.

"That pass…" Aomine muttered. "It's the one we used to always receive back then…" He whispered.

Momoi as well was out of it. "The old Akashi… He has returned..!"

Just like the two of them, Lucy also reacted. "Yes…" She muttered, clasping her hands together, not minding the tears which had begun falling from her eyes. Her theory, it was a success! Seirin had not won yet, but it didn't matter now. Akashi was back! He was really back! For good!

She could feel it in her magic, it shifted. Her reason for being here was done, a part of it. She could feel there was still more, but she had no doubt she would figure that out too. It was almost like it had been a barrier, keeping a part of her potential magic away. But it was now released, and with it came both relief, but also part of a sentence.

 _Bring Akashi back to himself…_

 _Akashi… Help…_

Those were the words she had been given so long ago. "Bring Akashi back to himself…" She whispered. She was right. Only half had been done, the sentence was unfinished. But she was so happy, she had no control of the tears pouring from her face.

"'Bring Akashi back to himself'…?" Nijimura repeated, having heard her whisper, just as Aomine, Momoi and Shinta had. Then it also seemed to click in his mind and he almost turned in his seat. "Wait, is that…?! The reason…?" He asked, happy, freaked out and worried all at the same time. If that was her reason for staying here, and if it was now done that would mean…

Lucy looked up at him, happiness shining from her fairly wet eyes. "Yes. Yes, it is. A part of it." She confirmed, immediately calming him down.

The sudden tension that had gathered left his shoulders in an instant, and he smiled softly at her. "I'm happy for you, Lucy." He replied, brushing away the tears from her face, although they returned quickly immediately after.

"Aaaaand… Would someone tell me what the hell the two of them are talking about?" Shinta asked, looking to Aomine and Momoi for answers. Both shrugged, understanding the situation as well as he did.

Though Lucy could barely focus on the match through all the emotions rolling around in her head, she still watched the match. With the original Akashi, the game ran much smoother for Rakuzan and they scored goal after goal with the perfect passes this Akashi made.

What's more, it was soon revealed that his playmaking skills made it possible for the other four to reach the Zone as well, which meant having the entire team of Rakuzan in the Zone, all at the same time. That was this Akashi's power. His perfect passes made it possible for him to draw out the full potential of his teammates.

It quickly became a situation Seirin couldn't handle, since they were running low on stamina and Rakuzan were at their best. Alas, Aomine, Kaijo, Midorima and Takao, Yosen and even Kuroko's friend, Ogiwara cheered them on.

This created a second wind for Seirin, in which Kagami had now gone to the Zone beyond the Zone, which for his team meant that they were more or less synchronized. That Zone was where you played your best, relying on your teammates.

With this, the teams were equally matched. The whole thing took on an insane intensity that was hard to follow, even for her.

But in the last seconds, she knew, Hyuuga managed to draw a foul from Mibuchi on a three-pointer. This meant, that if Seirin wanted to win, they had to make the free throw a rebound. Rakuzan knew too.

And so… Hyuuga threw. The angle was wrong, so it bounced off the hoop. Nebuya, Mibuchi, Kagami and Kiyoshi jumped for it. Kiyoshi's Vice Claw made it possible for him to get it and he passed it to Kuroko, the Phantom Sixth Man. Now, Kuroko. Kuroko went for the Phantom Shot, Akashi jumped, but it was too late. The ball was served straight for Kagami, who slammed it straight through the net.

"TIME'S UP!" The commentator, whom she had filtered out throughout the match, yelled. "At the end of this fierce battle, the ones who have finally taken down the strongest kings, who have reigned since the very beginning of the Winter Cup… The miraculous new stars, who were established but two years ago… Seirin High School! The Winter Cup champions!" However, he could hardly be heard over the loud cheering from both players and crowd.

Once again, her waterworks proved to work just fine. It was both in happiness for Seirin, for their miraculous win, and the meaning it held towards her own situation with Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games, but also the compassion she felt for Akashi at that moment. He shook Kuroko's hand and he congratulated him, the first signs of tears already visible then, though easily confused with sweat if you didn't know him.

She felt a hand on her back gently pushing her, and found it to be Nijimura's. "You should go to him, Lucy. He probably needs you." He told her softly.

With agreeing nods from Aomine and Momoi, she nodded. "Yes… Thank you!" She yelled out, before she ran down and out, evading the crowd of people just in time, as the two teams began moving back towards their changing rooms.

She didn't know where she was going, exactly, but she knew she was going the right way. That was until she realized, she had ended up at the stairs, where she had met Kagami for the first time, and when she had understood that Akashi was not who he used to be.

But. Her instincts had been right. Right there, looking down the empty stairs absently was Akashi. "Seijuro." She tried it out, easily gaining his attention.

The surprise was evident on his face, he clearly hadn't expected her presence. "Lucy…" He muttered.

She smiled, seeing it as an invitation to come closer, and so, she did. "You know… I missed you, Seijuro." She told him as she approached, her eyes watering again.

He looked at her for a fraction of a second, before quickly looking away. "I apologize, Lucy… I have not been treating you quite fairly recently…" He muttered, ashamed of the things he remembered having done, though knowing it wasn't really him.

She didn't stop in her tracks for a second though. "It's all right." She said. Stopping just beside him, she smiled a little. "I haven't been quite right in everything I've done either." She admitted softly. He didn't say anything, just continued to look away. "Please look at me Seijuro, don't push me away." She asked of him. When he didn't move, she found she had to. "It's all right for you to be sad right now, don't worry about it." She murmured, gently reaching up to brush a sweaty strand of hair away from his forehead.

That seemed to be all the invitation he needed as he reached out, pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, resting his forehead on her shoulder to hide from her view. "It is so painful…" His voice trembled with emotion, just as the rest of him did.

"I know." She said, gently wrapping her arms around him as well, softly comforting him.

As it had been when he was little, he cried without a sound, the tears just fell from his eyes like a droplet of rain from the sky. "I never knew defeat could be this excruciating…" He continued, all shaken up as he was.

She smiled and gently ran a hand over his back. "I know." She said, feeling the guy sink a little in her arms.

"I am so sorry, Lucy. I'm so sorry…" He mumbled, his entire soul in those words.

"I know." She smiled. None of them noticed as the first flakes of snow fell gently, comfortingly around them, bringing the promise that though things could be painful, in their own right, they were also beautiful.

 **So… Just going to leave it off there… Despite the sad mood, I really hope you all enjoyed ^-^**

 **Thanks to all who have read, followed, favorited and reviewed!**

 **~Line464d**


	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70**

 **Well now, last chapter really had a good reception. I'm glad you all liked it! ^-^  
Also… We've reached the 600** **th** **review mark~! Congratulations/Thanks Ailasca-chan for being the 600** **th** **!**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Really, if I had owned any of these two stories, I surely wouldn't have time for this kind of thing XD**

 **Earthland~**

"So… Why exactly is it you're happy that your friend lost that match?" Gray asked the blonde Celestial mage walking beside him, clearly confused with the idea of it. "That seems kind of rude to me, y'know."

Lucy shook her head. "I told you already, Gray, he had never lost even once in his life! But now he did and he's back to normal!" She replied, a grand smile on her face, as it had been ever since she woke up.

"… What?" Was all he could say, not having gotten any closer to an understanding ever since she brought the topic up.

"Come on, Ice Princess, it's simple!" Natsu replied, walking in front of them both with his hands behind his head. "Tch, and you call me stupid." He mocked his rival with a cocky grin on his face.

The Ice Make mage glared at the back of the pink-haired head exasperatedly. "All right then, Ash for Brains, if it's that simple, why don't _you_ explain it to me?" He suggested almost condescendingly.

Natsu looked back at him with humor in his eyes. "Sure. That guy was raised to never lose, and he hasn't. Obviously that would twist his sense of reality. Are you really too stupid to understand that, Frosty?" He asked patronizingly.

"Do you even know what half of those words mean?" Gray responded.

The Fire Dragon Slayer glared at him as he whirled around. "Of course I do! You wanna fight?!" He yelled, his hand already on fire.

Leaving the boys to their brawl, Wendy decided to speak up. "Uhm, I… I think that Natsu-san understands because that person's history is so close to Lucy-san's." She said with her little voice.

Erza nodded, looking straight ahead. "Yes, I do believe that is correct." She confirmed. "To think Lucy might have turned out like that, had she not escaped, frightens me quite a bit." She admitted, glancing down at the blonde, who was offering one of her softer smiles.

"Don't worry Erza, that won't happen. Though it's true mine and Akashi's backgrounds are similar, they're still not the same." Lucy reassured the redhead. "Really, he's had it harder than I have…" She trailed off. "Anyway, even if something like that happens, I still have all of you to get me back, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." Natsu said in front of them. "That's a promise!" He smiled, his trademark grin accompanied by a thumbs-up.

The blonde smiled even wider when the other three nodded in agreement. She really loved these guys. And she could count on them for sure.

"Funny, I feel strangely fired up now…!" The blonde said, raising her fist as a symbol of just that, earning laughs from her companions. "Hey.. Would you mind if I go for the event today?" She asked as an afterthought.

"Two days in a row? Are you sure you are up for that, Lucy?" Erza asked, looking at her a little strangely. This was the second day in a row she had asked to do it.. It was quite unlike Lucy, really. But then again… At the same time, it was also so very like her.

"Oi, I haven't been in an event yet! Isn't it my turn soon?!" Natsu asked, apparently also all fired up.

"Yeah.. But, uhm, Natsu-san, you haven't been in a battle yet either, so, uhm, I think they'll choose you today." Wendy chirped beside Erza.

"That's true. It's pretty obvious we're Sabertooth's main focus of destruction by now, and we're obviously also targeting them for our lost first place." Gray commented thoughtfully. "Really, it'd be idiotic for the organizers _not_ to pit us against each other today." He concluded.

Erza nodded. "Yes, that does sound right. It would be dissatisfying for the crowd should they decide not to do that and I cannot imagine that would be good for business." She added.

Lucy nodded. "It definitely wouldn't." She confirmed, though it was unnecessary. "Besides, I have a feeling I can't lose today." She said confidently. She might still be riding on a high from all the positive and good happenings recently, but she really did feel like there was no way she could lose, no matter the event.

"Well then, I think it's settled." Gray said, grinning at the blonde, then smirking at the pinkette. "Looks like you'll have to wait, Fire Breath." He teased the other guy.

Natsu glared right at the black-haired guy. "I could just beat you up, you popsicle, then I wouldn't have to wait..!" He warned him.

"Yeah, sure." The Ice Make mage easily dismissed him. "Heard that before, but it's never really happened, has it?" He asked, the smirk clear on his face. Of course, this ended out in an argument between those two, which made the three girls leave them behind in the hallway.

Finally, they reached the arena in which the fourth day was about to take place. Impressively enough, the entire arena was almost filled up already, you could count the number of empty seats on one hand.

And they'd thought they'd been a little early…

They were received with applause and cheers from the crowd as soon as they stepped out into the light of day. Smiling and waving at any she created eye-contact with, Lucy marveled in her silent mind at the change that had happened from the beginning of these games till now.

It must have felt similar for Seirin. They were quite literally a no-name team, and then they went and shot straight for the top, having the crowd to back them up throughout the most of the time. While Fairy Tail wasn't exactly a no-name guild, all the respect the name had once held had been all gone when they had returned back.

Judging from all of this, she'd say they were well on their way to get it back again. When the underdog beat the top-dog, it always raked in a lot of respect. Hopefully, when Fairy Tail won this, it'd do the very same to them. Only Mavis knew how much they needed the Jewels to get the guild building back on track.

It didn't take long before every team, the commentators and the remaining 5 seats were taken along with every single stair, railing and half-wall which existed in the colosseum. The place was quite literally filled to the brim. Except down in the arena, where only Mato stood, alone in the middle of it.

"Hello everyone - kabo! Are you ready for the fourth day?!" He yelled out, getting a roaring cheer thrown right back at him. "That's what I thought!" He said, that wide grin on his face. "Now, teams, you know what to do! Pick a member each for the day's events - Naval battle!" He exclaimed, clapping in his little hands.

Lucy gave a smile to her team, before deciding to take the more daring way down - jumping over the balcony's railing and all the way down to the arena.

Soon enough, she was joined by Risley from Mermaid, Jenny from Pegasus, Chelia from Lamia, Rocker from Quatro Puppy, Juvia from the B team, and finally… Minerva from Sabertooth. Already now, she could feel the woman's gaze on her. It felt like she was trying to throw needles at her with her eyes alone.

Lucy was soon distracted though, as Mato began his explanation. "All right everyone, hold on tight now, and to any loose objects." He told them just as the whole building began trembling all around them with power.

In the middle of the arena, a gigantic, purple magic circle appeared, filling more than half of the place. In a matter of seconds, a single droplet above the magic circle transformed into a basketball, then into something the size of her apartment, and finally to a sphere of water, which could easily hold the current Fairy Tail guild.

"This is the battle-field today, people - kabo!" Mato explained, gesturing to the water floating just above ground right next to him. "Now, before I let all of you go and change, let me explain the rules. You're all fighting inside that water sphere, going outside of it results in a loss. The last person remaining is the victor!" He told them.

Well, that was pretty simple. She had Aquarius, so it was hard for things to go really bad this time around. The only people she were worried about being able to counter it would be Juvia - water _was_ her element after all - and Minerva. She didn't know anything about Minerva, but she imagined the black haired woman was Sabertooth's Erza or Laxus, so she'd have to be careful.

"However - kabo!" Mato continued, drawing Lucy's attention back on him. "When only two people remain, a special rule comes into effect! The '5 minute rule'. Once only two remain, if one of them exits the arena within five minutes, they'll get last place."

Now… That made it more difficult. But still, if those five minutes ran out, the first one out wouldn't be on the last place, but just the second.

"Now, everyone, go change! Your swimming clothes have been brought here for convenience's sake, so just go to your respective hallways!" He told them all. "Oh, and don't worry. There are guards set up to fight off any peeking-toms, ladies." He reassured the women, whose faces had taken on a skeptical hue.

With that, each and every one of them hurried off into their own halls. When Lucy stepped in, she immediately saw a pair of Rune Knights gesturing for her to go into the room of the door they were guarding.

Closing the door safely behind her - and noticing there were no windows there - Lucy found herself comfortable enough to change. Right as Mato had been, someone had brought a bag of her own and the rest of Team A's bathing clothes there.

She smiled a little at the thought of how her father was most likely turning in his grave at the thought of her so freely fishing around in a bag of clothes holding even men's bathing suits, and then that she would be wearing a simple bikini herself in front of all of Fiore.

Just before she joined Fairy Tail was when she began walking around in miniskirts and wholly revealing clothes. Back then, it had been to challenge herself and loosen up from the aristocratic ways, which stuck to her brain and heart like leeches. Now, she could so freely go out there in nothing but her white bikini with the pink flower, not even batting an eye.

That looseness she'd reached, she owed it all to Fairy Tail - most especially Team Natsu. She couldn't imagine being without them now, and she definitely had to find some way to pay them back for all the times they'd helped her.

The first step in that process was winning this.

Fastening the belt around her hips, she returned to the arena with a confident stride in her step. She'd give it her all and not back down, just like her own team. It seemed it really had been a good idea it wasn't Natsu doing this fight though.

With everyone gathered, Mato directed them to the sphere. "Please jump in - kabo - and then the game will begin when the gong sounds!" He told them and watched as all seven jumped into the sphere of water and placed themselves in a circle facing each other. Shortly after they'd all placed themselves and the crowd's cheering had calmed down, the guy with the hammer smashed it straight into the gong, announcing the beginning of the game. "The Naval Battle has begun - kabo!"

Deciding it'd be a good idea to sweep the floor clean as fast as possible, Lucy quickly found her Water Bearer Spirit in her pouch. "This is early, but.. Sorry everyone!" She said, pulling the key up and channeling her magic into it. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer!" She called, swinging the key down. "Aquarius!"

Alas, the Mermaid popped up right in front of the blonde, her urn lifted as the Spirit was already in what looked like a fit of rage. "Ooohhh! THE WATER IS MY STAGE!" She yelled as she gathered the water in her urn and made it hers.

Juvia was the first to react on Lucy's summon. "Love Rival! I won't let you seduce Gray-sama like this!" The rain woman told her, not minding how Lucy looked at her incredulously while Gray yelled for her to stop it from the sidelines. Holding her hands, palms facing Lucy, she quickly gathered her magic. "Water Cyclone!"

Juvia's and Aquarius' twisters of water collided straight into each other, pulling some of the others into it even. However, none of them would budge an inch, so they were evenly matched. Meanwhile, Lucy could see Jenny using the distraction of their power-struggle to kick Rocker out of the field as the first one out.

"Things are going nowhere at this rate! I'm going back!" Aquarius suddenly announced, while doing what she could to match Juvia's intensity.

"What?! You can't just leave now, Aquarius! You're the one I'm counting on here in the water!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I have a date~" The Mermaid Spirit explained with a blush. Just before Lucy could protest, the Spirit turned ahead to her current opponent again. "Though I wouldn't say this match means anything to me, it would leave me with a bad reputation if I just leave you like this. Besides, you can still use me even if I'm not here." She then said.

Leaving the blonde no time to try to understand her words, the Mermaid shot straight forward, towards Juvia, continuing to pressure the blue-haired woman with her magic. Lucy realized Aquarius was creating an escape for her, so that she wouldn't get caught up in the cyclone, when she left the blonde in favor of her boyfriend. So, she quickly swam upwards in order to move out of the direct line of the cyclone and made it just in time as the whirlwind of water rushed past right underneath her.

Juvia glared - though not with much feeling in it - at the blonde. "No one can defeat Juvia in the water!" She said, before directing the cyclone upwards and at Lucy again.

Lucy, realizing she wouldn't be able to evade the Cyclone, quickly pulled out yet another pair of keys. "Virgo! Aries!" She quickly yelled out as the water hit her, not having time to say the whole incantation.

Virgo and Aries immediately popped into existence. "Sexy Guard! Princess!" Virgo yelled, barely managing to catch the blonde with Aries.

"I'm very sorry!" Aries yelled as a cloud of fluffy wool appeared behind all three of them, completely stopping any further movement backwards.

"Phew.. That was close." Lucy muttered, able to touch the edge of the water sphere if she reached out for it. "Thanks guys!" She thanked the both of them, before they both returned to the Spirit World.

Taking a moment to re-orient herself, she watched as Juvia promised to defeat Risley, Chelia and Jenny all at once. "The new finishing move I've mastered thanks to Second Origin…!" She trailed off, her arms spread out wide. "Spread!" She said, whirling around like a drill in the water. "Wings of Love! Gray-sama Love!" She yelled as the water spun around again, this time much more violently and somehow creating small hearts all over. With it, she knocked those three ladies out of the water. With the fluff-cloud, Lucy managed to stay on the inside.

Lucy couldn't help giggling when she heard Gray more or less begging Juvia to stop it. It was kind of cute how he always flared up like that whenever Juvia would do something like that.

Wait… Flare. Now she understood what Aquarius meant!

Looking to Juvia, she saw that the woman was completely distracted with Gray's appalled expression. It was the same Erza'd made if Ichiya had said the same.

Smirking to herself, she closed her eyes for a moment and gathered her magic. Having tried it out once or twice before, she had found this would be much easier if she thought of the Spirit she wanted the connection with. So, she flashed right through many of the most important memories she'd had with Aquarius to this point, then summoned her magic.

"Aquarius, please help me with this." She muttered to herself, opening her eyes up and staring straight at Juvia, who was still caught in the shock of Gray's reaction.

Feeling a surge of magic running through her, Lucy pulled her arms back, palms facing her target, before thrusting them forwards quickly with a cry, releasing all magic at once. From it sprouted a powerful wave of magic, which easily took Juvia by surprise and pushed her out of the sphere.

"Oh my. Aren't you a nasty, little one? Pushing your friend out when she's so defenselessly distracted?" Minerva said from the sidelines, magic dispersing from the hand she had held towards Juvia's previous placement. "You did exactly what I had hoped to do." She said with an evil smile playing on her lips.

Lucy frowned as she stared at the Sabertooth mage. The little bit of magic she had summoned, she had no doubt it was nothing more than a mere fraction of the power that woman held. She could have easily wiped the floor with her and all the others had she wanted to, but she had held back for some reason. Really, it was probably for the best that she'd been the one to push Juvia out, rather than that woman.

It seemed only Lucy and Minerva were left in the sphere of water now, which meant the five minute-countdown was starting. She'd have to be clever if she wanted to win… She'd figure something out.

"With my magic, I could expel you from this sphere in an instant, but.. That would be quite boring, don't you think?" The black-haired woman asked as her hand got incased in some sort of bubble, which was her magic. "Try to endure… Fairy Tail." She said, before gently letting the bubble fly towards Lucy.

The blonde's warning signals flared up in alarm, and she quickly and barely managed to dodge the bubble, which came flying straight at her. She could feel the heat the bubble radiated as it whooshed right past her and exploded a meter away. Had she been hit by that, it would have been painful. She had to evade those things.

"Ohhh, she's nimble too? Now, this will be amusing~!" The Sabertooth lady almost sang in glee.

Meanwhile, Lucy's mind was still trying to figure out how it was possible for it to explode and radiate heat the way it did underwater. She couldn't figure it out just from this, she would need to see it a few more times, if she wanted to figure out what this magic was. It was just as Gajeel said, it was impossible to fight an enemy, if you didn't understand the properties of the magic the opponent had.

Suddenly, a gentle blanket of magic landed around her. Strange as the sensation was, somehow it was refreshing. The blonde felt like she could swim and move much faster than she could have hoped for before, without breaking a sweat.

 _Lucy-chan! I've enhanced your speed, defenses and attacks! It should be easier for you to figure something out now._ She heard Angelis' kind voice chirp in her mind, and she smiled and nodded slightly, not minding the odd look she was getting from Minerva. Angelis really was awesome.

Hearing a laugh from Minerva, Lucy quickly turned her attention to the ball of magic, which was rapidly approaching her. She quickly dived under it, but then she noticed the ball of magic, which came rushing at her from beneath. She moved away as quick as she could, but it was not fast enough for her to could dodge the hit entirely.

And explosion of heat burst out right at her hip, leaving her skin charred, even with Angelis' defenses. Before Lucy had the chance to collect herself again, another explosion burst from her back, this one much more powerful than the first. The blonde couldn't hide the wail of pain which crawled out of her throat as she felt her skin being torn open from the explosion.

She could feel her own blood slowly seeping out of her newly acquired wound and out into the water, dying it in red. But she knew this was not at all the limits to Minerva's strength. As it was right now, she was testing things out - how resilient Lucy was, how much her body could handle before she got the desired effects.

She had to do something if she wanted to win this. But a certain, familiar weight was now gone from her hips. "My keys?!" She yelled, whirling up and around, to see Minerva standing there with all of them dangling from her hands.

"Now then, you won't be needing these, will you?" She asked sarcastically, knowing full-well that those keys were a Celestial mage's only line of defense _or_ attack. With exaggerated movements, the black-haired woman held her arm out, and threw the keys under the cover of dropping them, so that they would fall too fast for the blonde to catch them. "Oops." She said, holding a hand to her mouth in amusement, as if she hadn't actually meant to.

Lucy glared at the Sabertooth mage. "I don't need to have my keys on me to fight." She told her opponent. How had she gotten them in her hands at all? They hadn't been within a meter of each other at any point yet.

Minerva only smirked wider. "Oh, yes. That's right. You can summon Spirits even without having your keys in your hands, can't you?" She asked rhetorically as she swam a little closer, a dark look on her face. "However, I'm sure something like that would require your undivided attention." She commented, tilting her head in a way similar to Flare's, just more evil and less psychotic. "Then I guess I just have to make sure that you can't focus, don't I?" She asked, smiling with her magic already summoned at her hands.

In a moment's notice, the blonde tensed all the muscles in her body, readying them for action. Minerva cackled as she released ball after ball of her magic at the blonde, who rolled, dove, side-swam and did whatever else she could to avoid them. However, she couldn't get around all of them, and her legs, arms, shoulders, stomach… Everything but her face was hit by the smaller explosions, leaving small gashes to open up all over.

As she had promised the relentless and merciless attacks made it impossible for Lucy to focus enough for her to call on a Spirit like she had in the battle against Flare. The pain she felt from each hit overwhelmed the pain from the previous one, completely taking over any calmn and focus the blonde may have had.

She had probably figured out what Minerva's magic could do though. It manipulated with space. That was how she got Lucy's keys, and it was how she could heat and create explosions in the water. Lucy imagined it also was how she'd protected herself from Juvia's last attack. Now the question was whether she could also transport people in there…?

A high-pitched scream burst out of the blonde, when she was hit in the chest with an especially big and powerful magic ball. The force of it alone made her fly backwards quickly, towards the edge of the sphere.

Doing some quick thinking, Lucy tore her mind through the painful memories she had with the news of Kozo's magic deficiency getting the best of him, and channeled that to summon Daemon's magic as she kept approaching the edge of the sphere. At the very last moment, a pair of black, demonic wings sprouted from her lower back. With her back to the very edge of the sphere, Lucy beat the new pair of wings and managed to save herself in time with them.

Three minutes had already passed, two more to go and the five minutes would be up. Not that that meant anything, she would win this no matter what. For her team, for Fairy Tail, for their victory and for reclaiming their title as the best guild. But also for herself. She needed this win, she needed to prove that she was not as useless as she looked in the match against Flare.

And with these wings, she would have an easier time maneuvering around in the water, she imagined. She would figure some way out to beat Minerva, no matter what.

"My, what is this now? A change of wardrobe? Is it really the time for that though?" Minerva asked, looking at the blonde with what looked like a calm expression on the outside. Lucy could see in her eyes that she had reached a realization.

Looking down, she found that she had indeed changed wardrobe. Her white bikini had temporarily been replaced with a sort of leathery bikini-front, which stuck to her breasts and covered just barely what it needed to on the front, while it had nothing keeping it up on the back or around her neck. Likewise, the new panties didn't seem to be leaving much to the imagination either. The top being red, and the bottom black. A pair of black, fingerless gloves covered her hand and all the way up to the elbow. And judging from the way her hair behaved, it would seem she had horns now too.

"Star Dress..! Daemon!" She called out, just so there could be no doubt. In the heat of the moment, she had mastered it. Somehow. It didn't matter, she'd figure that out later. "I'm not going down that easily, Minerva!" She promised her opponent, before charging right at her again.

"No, I see you don't!" She yelled, stressing the last word as she threw her magic at the approaching blonde. However, even more so than before, Lucy dodged it with ease. Flapping the demon wings an extra time, she sped up. Leaving the battle to her instincts, she gathered the magic at her hands, and threw it much like Minerva did.

Of course, the black haired woman easily dodged them or deflected them with her own magic. Even swallowed up a pair of magic bursts with her ow magic. But that didn't stop the Celestial mage from getting closer faster and faster with each passing second.

She created an explosion of black magic between the two of them, which was more for show than anything else. With her hand stretched forward, charged with all the magic she could muster up, she dashed right through it and to Minerva on the other side. Everything was riding on this, if it didn't work, Lucy wouldn't run out of magic. Star Dress sapped her magic faster and faster, it seemed. She wasn't at a point where she could really use it effectively yet, so this really had to work.

But... Things were not to be that way. Because Minerva wasn't on the other side. She had read what Lucy had wanted to and disappeared. Meanwhile, Lucy couldn't stop herself from moving forward, so when Minerva crawled out of a black hole created by her magic right in front of her, she couldn't manage to avoid the burst of magic which came crashing right at her.

With a shriek of both surprise and pain, Lucy was forced backwards again, the Star Dress form she'd been in vanishing and leaving her in her original bathing clothes. Not only that, she could also feel Angelis' enhancements dispersing, because of the time they'd spent apart already.

Truly, she was defenseless now. Emptied of magic and without her previous defenses against an enemy like Minerva. Her only hope of defeating Minerva had been wasted, and now she was left with nothing.

"I should send you out just about now, time's running out." Minerva commented in an almost happy tone. One minute was still left of those five minutes.

Lucy took a deep breath to calm herself down again. "I won't lose in a place like this." She said. Not confident, but determined. "I won't. I will endure anything you throw at me, no matter what it is. And in the end, I will take you down with me." She promised the black-haired lady through clenched teeth, a defiant look in her brown eyes. She was a Fairy Tail mage. She would pull through in the end, when everything was looking desperate. That was just how it worked.

"Oh? Anything… You say?" Minerva asked, a smooth expression on her face. However… That was only until she began charging her magic again. Much more than before, the pressure was overwhelming, but it kept growing right there, in her hand, as the ball of pure magic grew bigger and bigger, a crazed look in her eyes.

Lucy quickly realized her mistake as Minerva hurled it at her. The magic hit, expanded, then exploded all around and on her. She felt like she was being torn to pieces right there. She could feel her skin splitting apart at several places, opening up for new wounds.

Minerva was talking about being the top guild. But it was all drowned out by the searing pain that coursed through the blonde's body. Yet still, it was not enough for Minerva. She kept throwing small, compressed, powerful explosions of magic at the blonde, sending her flying backwards.

And just as she was nearing the edge, hoping to reach an escape from this… Suddenly she was in the middle of the sphere with Minerva's knee digging into her back, forcing her to release even more wails of pain.

Faintly. Just faintly, she could hear her guild calling for Minerva to stop it. For someone to stop it. But Minerva wasn't done with her at all. And it was only her words, which reached the blonde's mind.

"Oh no, can't have you passing out just yet, Fairy Trash! I am not anywhere near done with you!" She yelled. The magic was hurled at the blonde from all angles and sides. All she could see was black. All she could think was black. And all she could feel was pain. She knew her mouth was open. She knew she was screaming. But she couldn't hear it. The pain was deafening her. Deafening everything else.

When her consciousness was near-fading. A burst to the head brought her back. And then a new round of explosions. This… This was many times worse than what Gajeel did to her back in Phantom Lord. No one were watching then. Her teammates weren't watching. They weren't seeing this weakness of hers.

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Something was clutched tight around her neck, and she was suspended in the air. She noticed she was no longer in the water. She could feel the cold wind brush past her wet skin. She didn't know if it was blood or water. She shivered.

Then her sense of hearing returned to her. With the onslaught of magic gone, came the onslaught of sound. She couldn't tell one from the other. Some were laughing. Some were crying. Some were screaming. Some were calling out her name. Some were cheering for Minerva. And Minerva… Minerva was laughing right alongside her guild. It got louder and louder. Every second. And she could do nothing about it.

The grip around her neck faded suddenly and she was falling through the air. With only the onslaught of sound, her vision went completely black before she even hit the ground.

 **To say this escalated quickly would be an understatement. However… Well, you probably won't in the literal sense of the word, but I hope you liked it!  
As you see, I changed quite a few things in this battle, even if it ended the same way it did in canon. Which it didn't even. **

**So yes…. That happened.**

 **Thanks to all who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed! You're darlings, all of you!**

 **~Line464d**


	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71**

 **I know, the chapter is a little short today. It's not lacking in story though. Explanation: I've been feeling a little sick recently, nothing major though. So.. Yeah, sorry about that ;)**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Nope. No (in Spanish), no es mí historia. I think that's how it's done… Well, it's the school-version of it anyway XD**

 **Earth~**

Lucy jolted awake with a gasp, shooting straight up into a sitting position. The sudden movement sent a wave of agony washing through her entire body, and she fell back down again, clenching her eyes shut as she suppressed the urge to cry out. The ground… It was soft. As if she was surrounded by pillows, but so cold it burned everywhere it connected with her skin.

She slowly opened her eyes, coming face to face with blinding white. Snow? It wasn't winter in Earthland, so… She was at Earth? Why was she here, again?

She moved to sit up again, but had to stop halfway, when the pain caused her vision to swim in a dizzy spell. Every spot on her body was burning, no matter if it touched the snow or not. As a matter of fact, though it burned, the cold flakes dulled the pain a little. But it was so cold though..

Breathing out slowly and shakily, she fought down the dizziness. Finally, she took in her current state. What she saw made her exhale in short, terrified bursts.

All she saw was crimson red. Her skin, clearly visible as she was only wearing a blood and water soaked bikini, was split up everywhere. The few places it wasn't only served to make it look even worse. Now stiffened, the scabs bulged up everywhere.

And suddenly, as if reality came crashing down on her, the pain increased tenfold. Bile rose in her throat at the sight of herself mixed with the pain, and she quickly turned around, only to retch up empty air.

With her head hanging down between her shoulders, her arms steadying her on the ground, she closed her eyes again. She whimpered almost silently as all the things Minerva did to her came flooding back to her. Every explosion. It was as if she felt it all over again.

She had been thrown around like a ragdoll, unable to do anything in her own defense. Even if she had had her keys, it would have made no difference. She had been cocky. Way too cocky. Minerva was at least on Erza's level. Lucy knew she had no chance against Erza, so why would she delude herself into thinking she did Minerva? She was not that strong.

All the things she'd said… It was so stupid of her. Minerva was not a calm and merciful person, she'd known that right from the beginning. Yet still, she egged the woman on with her words. She had spelled out her own defeat so easily and unconcernedly.

She had prided herself on her own intellect, but… Was that failing her too? Did her arrogance and pride overshadow her logic? Did she lose herself in Seirin's win and her own the day prior? Was that it?

Was she really that weak?

She had only barely managed to endure what Minerva put her through, but that was only because the Sabertooth mage held back _and_ made sure she stayed conscious.

She had given it all she could, even succeeding with Star Dress, but still… It wasn't enough. It never seemed to be, did it? No matter how much she trained, something would get in her way. Be it cancelling her magic or simply overpowering her.

She knew she was a Celestial mage, and she knew she was going through that weak phase of her life, but wasn't it about time it turned around for her? Wasn't it her turn to save her friends soon?

Hissing in pain as she brushed away an angry tear, she reached a conclusion. No. It probably wasn't. It would be far into the future - if at all - when that happened. She was nothing but a burden for them all as it was right now. But even if she fought her way up to that point, all she'd see would be everyone's backs. She would never catch up to them.

The only place she could even hope to be of any use was here on Earth. She could play somewhat on terms with those guys. But even if she could not, if any of them ever got in some kind of trouble, she could handle that. She wasn't weak here.

Everything would just be so simple if… "If only I could stay at Earth..." She whispered through clenched teeth. As soon as she had said it, she realized her mistake. "Wait… No.. I didn't mean that." She said, already panicking. What had she just done?! "Spirit King! Stache Face! Please! I didn't mean that! I didn't!" She yelled at the sky.

But… It was too late. The tears poured down her cheeks when a heavy blanket of magic settled around her. Her decision was made.

 _Bring Akashi back to himself and he too shall help you._

First she whimpered. Then she began whining with every shaky breath. Finally, she out-right sobbed. Loudly and violently. Each sob wracked through her beaten and battered body forcefully.

She did what Kozo had warned her against doing. She did what she had warned Yukino against doing. She had chosen Earth over Earthland. She had said it clearly, word for word. She had sealed her own fate. Barred herself from ever seeing Fairy Tail, her friends.. Her family. Never would she ever see them again.

And what was almost even more unbearable… Her keys were back with her family still. She could never summon Virgo to help her with picking out the perfect set of clothes. She could never summon Cancer to set her hair as beautifully as he always did. She could never summon Loke when she needed someone to talk to or just to have fun. She could never be washed away by Aquarius' furious waters ever again. She didn't even have her whip, which was given to her by Virgo herself…

She had nothing.

She had nothing that could act as a memento from Earthland and her family. Only the bikini she was wearing and all her memories. Memories that she would never forget.

But… Even so. She couldn't be worked half to death by Gajeel. She couldn't squeeze Wendy when she was being cute. She couldn't have girl-talks with Mira and Cana. She couldn't feed Happy his daily fish. She couldn't have the life hugged out of her by Erza. She couldn't help Gray look for his clothes. She couldn't sit with Natsu's head on her lap on the train and help him through the motion sickness. She couldn't go on missions with Team Natsu ever again… Couldn't evade the flying tables, couldn't laugh at her family's craziness, couldn't fight alongside her friends ever again.

And all of it.. All of it was because of one, little sentence.

No. It couldn't be right. There must be something she could do. Just something. Didn't matter what or why. She would do anything, anything at all. She didn't care what or how tough it was. She would do it without hesitation. She would..

Though she knew it was impossible, she slowly and carefully rose to her feet. She was more determined than she had ever been before about this. She would find the way to do this. However... Stretching her skin like that wasn't a good idea… The scab of one of her wounds tore itself open and blood began gushing out. Her own legs couldn't carry her weight. They buckled under her and she collapsed down on the snow-covered ground again.

She buried her head in her hands, a final act of giving up. She would never see her friends again. She would die here… Without any of them. It was too much for her to bear. The pain, emotional as well as physical, welled up in her, and breaking out in the form of a deafeningly loud, incomprehensible scream, which could be heard several streets away.

And that was exactly what it was. Nijimura and Shinta both turned their heads in the direction of where they heard the blood-curdling scream come from. It was horrible.. Terrifying. The scream of someone who had experienced the worst pain of all. Someone who had lost everything.

But something about it nagged Nijimura's mind, and he quickly set into a run. Shinta quickly caught up to him and followed along.

Less than a half minute later, the two boys reached the street they had been looking for. And there… On top of all the white, was a person, collapsed on the ground. She was barely any other color than crimson red and the snow underneath her was slowly adopting the same color, spreading out from her. Even her previously golden hair was splattered with the red liquid. Everything around her, covered in the white snow, made it seem like she was the only thing of color. And it made it look all the more violent.

"Shit.. What the hell happened to her?" Shinta asked, his eyes wide and frozen. He was too horrified with the sight in front of him to even consider approaching her.

Nijimura's eyes were wide for a slightly different reason. "No…" He muttered. Her pained whimper was what set him into a mad dash towards her. "It's Lucy!" He yelled, for which he got a string of curses from his friend.

It could only be. No one else had that blonde hair. No one else would look like they'd been hailed down by grenades and still be alive, not to mention conscious.

He quickly reached her and fell down on his knees next to her, but he didn't know if he could even touch her anywhere without it hurting. He noticed that she was clad in nothing more than the bare necessities, and quickly pulled off his own jacket to put around her shoulders, sending Shinta a look that told him to do the same. Though that was hardly necessary.

"Damn, she's cold…" Shinta commented, and Nijimura could only nod. Who knew how long she'd been out here like that?

The added weight of the two jackets seemed to wake her up from the trance she had caught herself in and she looked up. Her teary gaze quickly landed on Nijimura, and she almost sprang up. "Niji-kun!" She squeaked with a weaker voice than he'd ever heard her have. Her using his old nickname wasn't exactly a good sign either. That was when she latched onto him with both of her arms, completely ignoring her wounds. "I'm so s-sorry…" She stammered weakly.

Seeing as it was the only place he couldn't see any wounds, he gently patted her head. "Whatever it is, it's all right." He reassured her. She squeezed her arms around him harder, heavy sobs of grief forcing their way through her.

He couldn't guess what had gotten her like this. Had they lost the tournament? No, there was still supposed to be at least one day left of it. She'd been beaten up in one of the events, probably, but… What had made her scream such a frightening scream earlier?

Nijimura fished his phone out of his pocket and threw it to Shinta. "Call Akashi. He's the one closest by. Tell him we're coming." He told his friend.

"But…" He hesitated, looking down at the blonde again. "Shouldn't we call an ambulance instead? She needs some serious help here." He asked him, confused.

Nijimura shook his head. "No, her situation is a little different..." He said. She would probably pass out sometime soon and suddenly disappear. That happening really wouldn't be a good idea in the hospital.

Shinta hesitated just for a moment longer, before he got to his feet and looked through Nijimura's contacts, searching for Akashi's number.

As Nijimura turned back to her again, silently patting her head, which was a little wet, suddenly she pressed herself even closer to him, probably to hide her face. "I'm so sorry, Niji-kun. I know you told me.. You told me not to say it.. But it was by mistake! I swear! I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry, Niji-kun. It was by mistake..! Even though you told me.." She kept on going in circles.

He decided to cut her off in the middle of her rant, taking a gentle hold of her chin and tipping her head upwards. "No matter what it is, Lucy, it's all right. We'll figure it out, okay?" He asked her, still not knowing what she was talking about.

Her expression went from wide, teary eyed to soft, teary eyed. She nodded. "Okay." She confirmed.

With her calmed down, he watched as her eyelids slowly closed themselves and her consciousness faded. "Shinta…" He was about to say that he could tell Akashi it didn't matter after all as her arms slackened around him.

But the golden light didn't appear and she didn't go back to her own world. She stayed right there, passed out on his lap. His eyes widened as he understood what she had meant and why she was in the state she was.

Shinta had turned around to look at him, but only to see the guy quickly gathering the blonde up in his arms. "We really have to fucking go!" Nijimura barked at him, now seeing that the Celestial mage was in a critical condition as she now wouldn't be healed on her trip back to her own world. "You'll have to walk and talk with that brat…!" He said, before hurrying right past his friend.

He didn't really hear what Shinta told Akashi, and didn't really care at the moment. Right now they just needed to have her warmed up and tended to as quick as possible. It probably still wasn't an entirely good idea to bring her to the hospital. For all he knew, her body might be way different from that of his own, and they really couldn't risk that. Kozo was in there though, and they didn't seem to be particularly worried about him…

Ah, it didn't matter, they were going to Akashi's now. Afterwards, they'd figure that kind of things out.

"Hey, Niji." He heard Shinta call out to him, having finished the call. "You wanna tell me what the hell is going on here? Those wounds she has don't look like anything I've ever seen before… What happened to her? Because you clearly know something I don't." He asked him, looking from the unconscious girl who hung from Nijimura's arms to the carrier himself.

Nijimura sighed and nodded. There was hardly any way around it now. It was just one more addition to the group who were to hear of Lucy's story. "I won't go into details right now, you'll just have to believe me, we simply don't have the time right now." He said, earning a nod from his friend. "The reason I didn't ask you to call an ambulance is because she's different from us. She's… From another world entirely." He said, glancing at his friend to see his confused and surprised expression, which didn't quite believe him. At all. "In her world magic exists. These wounds are probably caused by her being attacked by another mage." He curtly explained his friend, who clearly didn't believe a single word he said. "I know it's hard to believe, but these wounds are proof." He said, pausing for a moment. "All those times she ran off from us suddenly? It was because she was going back to her own world." He told him, hoping it would convince him.

Shinta sighed deeply. "Man… That's a mouthful to believe, but.. Well, it makes sense. Sort of. Ish." He said, running a hand through his hair. "And we don't want her as an experimental guinea pig, so no hospital for her." He concluded from that. "All right, I believe you." He said, giving his friend a lopsided smile.

Nijimura gave him a little one in response. "Thank you." He said with a nod. "Just don't tell the Miracles or anyone else about it, they don't know yet." He warned him, before looking ahead to see Akashi's house. "We're here." He muttered to himself. He couldn't help but wonder how Akashi would react…

Nonetheless, he walked through the gate at the same time the front door to the grand house was opened, revealing none other than Akashi himself holding the door for them.

As he approached the door, he was already talking to the redhead. "I'm sorry, but I have to intrude on you, Akashi. It's pretty important." He said, shifting Lucy gently in his arms for emphasis.

The captain of Rakuzan squinted at the girl in Nijimura's arms, apparently not recognizing her. "Is that… Lucy?" He asked, probably identifying her by the blonde hair, just as he had. With an affirmative from Shinta, his eyes widened when he saw her a little closer, though she was somewhat covered up. "What happened?!" He asked, confusion and a light tinge of panic lacing his voice.

"I'll tell you later, for now we need to warm her up and get her tended to." He said, looking at Akashi expectantly, to get directions.

"Right. I will call for a maid to help with that." He said, not about to have any of the three of them cleaning a woman. "The bathroom is at the right in the room at the end of that hall." He said, calming himself down as he gestured for them to go down there, while he hurried off to get a hold of one of his maids.

Shinta and Nijimura exchanged a look, before going where Akashi had pointed them towards. Shinta held the door for the two of them as they entered what seemed to be Akashi's bedroom. Of course, as he had told them, there was a door on the right, which proved to be the entrance to the guy's own, personal bathroom.

Shinta immediately went to the tub and turned up for the hot water, pouring a little soap into it as it slowly filled up. While it did that, he and Nijimura helped each other removing the jackets from the blonde and hanging them up on a nearby hanger, not really caring too much about them right now.

That was when an elder maid stepped inside. "What is.. Oh my!" She gasped, when she saw the girl in Nijimura's arms.

Shinta patted his friend on the arm, before joining Akashi by the doorway, where there wasn't any view of the girl really.

The former captain of Teiko nodded, understanding what went unspoken by the maid. "I know, but please help her." He almost begged her.

The maid bit her teeth together and adopted a determined expression. "Of course. If you would just lower her into the water, then I'll take care of the rest." She promised him, pushing away her surprise and worry for now.

He nodded and began slowly lowering her into the water. When her feet, as the first ones, touched the water, she jolted awake again with another pained gasp, looking around confusedly. "Wh.. Where am I?" She asked, her voice still as tiny as before. She wasn't just confused though, she also looked a little scared… Of the water.

"Don't worry, Lucy. You're just in Akashi's bathroom." Nijimura tried to soothe her. Fortunately, it seemed to calm her down. However instead of the fright, sadness took over, though she tried to hide it. "Is it all right if I lower you into the water?" He asked her softly. He had no idea what happened to her, but it seemed to have been something involving water.

She nodded softly and he lowered her into the water slowly, just like he had before. He saw her grimacing when her injuries were submerged in the hot water, but once again, she held it in, not wanting to show her pain.

He sighed as he finally released her and pulled his hands up again. "This maid.." He trailed off, looking up at the maid for an introduction of herself.

"Oh, Iris. I'm Iris." She said, smiling down at the girl, who tipped her head back to look at her.

He nodded. "Yeah, Iris will help you clean up. We'll be right out there if you need anything." He promised her, to which he got another tiny nod.

Just when he was about to turn around and walk out, a tug at the back of his shirt stopped him. Of course, it was Lucy. "Would you call everyone together?" She asked him. "Kagami and Haizaki included." She quickly added.

He smiled and nodded. "Of course." He said. She would tell them all, she had made the decision to. Honestly, it was probably a good idea, given her state. It was too unlike anything on Earth, so she had to, really. Besides, things would be different now she was stuck here too…

Damn.. He couldn't even imagine what this felt like for her. It would be the same as if he couldn't see his own father, mother and siblings. He couldn't imagine it at all.

For the second time, she'd have to find a new family, this time without it being her own choice. That, and it looked like she didn't even have her keys with her, so she'd lost her Spirits as well.. She lost more or less everyone she cared for and knew. She was locked in a whole other world than her own unwillingly…

He sighed lightly again as he closed the door behind him. He would just have to help her through all of this, whether it be with or without the brats.

"So." He heard Akashi say, breaking him out of his trance. "What is going on, Nijimura?" He asked the other guy.

Nijimura looked at the redhead for a while, before running a hand through his hair. "She will tell you herself when she's done in there… You and all the other brats. We need to call them together." He said.

Akashi raised an eyebrow. "What is this all about?" He asked him defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest, wanting some answers before he just did what Nijimura told him to.

"Remember when you chased her around, wanting answers from her?" He asked a little brutally. Akashi cringed in regret as he nodded. "Yeah, she's going to be giving you and everyone else those answers." He explained. "So, we're going to call them all here while she's in there." He said, pulling out his phone for emphasis' sake. "Her orders, by the way."

That made Akashi pull his phone out as well. "I see." He said. "We will be too many to be in my room." He said, which was a lie, there was more than enough room. "Rather, we should go into the adjacent room, first at the right." He said and began walking out of his own room and towards the one at the right, adjoining with the bathroom and his own room. It was bigger than the other - obviously - and with a big table in the middle.

Shinta turned to Nijimura. "Hey, should I be here for this?" He asked, sounding a little worried.

Nijimura nodded. "Yeah.. You've seen and heard enough by now to stay." He told him in a low voice, before finding the first name on his phone. His favorite person…. Haizaki.

 **So that's that, guys. Hope you enjoyed, despite everything.  
** _ **And**_ **I hope I got Lucy's feelings across properly. I literally played sad music while writing this chapter to get in the right mood… Did it work out?**

 **The next few chapters, like this one and the one before, will be quite emotional, with everything that's going on. And, as you can guess, she is going to be revealing everything to the guys next week!  
Of course, all of this means we're approaching the end of the story. It may change, but as it is right now, it looks like there are only five chapters left, not counting this one. So… Yeah. My second finished story ^-^**

 **Anywho. Thanks to everyone who've been with me all the way to chapter 71. I mean… Come on, that's a ridiculously long time. 71 weeks. Plus/minus a few, I imagine. That's pretty great. Thanks to all the loyal reviewers too, of course. You've most definitely been one of the wheels in my driving-force to get this story done. It'd be quite sad if I got no feedback, I'd most definitely have stopped before chapter 10 and keep the idea to myself. So yeah. Kudos to all of you out there!**

 **~Line464d**


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72**

 **Sorry! I wasn't able to get it out on time. Was sick the entire week, and then in the weekend, when I wasn't, we got guests all over the place. And then school hailed down on me with papers. ._." So I'm sorry that I haven't had the chance to finish it on time..**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer:**

 **Earth~**

At some point, she had just gotten used to the pain. Now it just lay there… In the back of her mind and covering her entire body as each wound was carefully cleaned. She had become numb now, indifferent to it as her head hung, too heavy to lift up herself. She knew her expression was blank as she just stared at her hands under the dark, pink water.

She had been terrified of the water at first, thinking that Nijimura and Shinta finding her there on the street after having made _that_ decision just was a hallucination… That she was back with Minerva again. But no. She wasn't back there. At the same time she was both relieved and disappointed. If she had still been with Minerva, then she still had the chance to see her family again, but she wasn't and she didn't.

How was she supposed to react to this kind of thing? Cry uncontrollably? Scream till her lungs broke? Destroy things in a fit of rage? Or should she already be coming to terms with it? She was doing none of that. Really, she was just empty.

She could only hope telling all of them would lighten things up a bit… She doubted it, but she had to do it either way. She had to do at least that..

"There we go, dear. That should be all for now." Lucy heard the maid, Iris, say as she pulled her hand out of the water. As with every other time she tried talking to the blonde, she didn't get much of a reaction. She sighed as she grabbed the dark towel and put it down on the sink behind her. "Come now, we need to get you dried off." She said.

A little pull in the blonde's arm was all it took for her to realize what was going on and practically jump out of the water. Relieved to be out of the water again, the blonde stood stock-still as she let the maid gently dab off the water on her body.

Now she stood up rather than sitting submerged in the water, she could really feel how stiff she was. Both from the scabs all over the place, but also because of the tension running through her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath as she heard Iris continue to mumble about things as she kept working on getting her dry. With a painful roll of her shoulders, Lucy already felt just a little bit better. At least it was enough to loosen her up a little.

Iris was also doing the drying so gently that it didn't hurt at all whenever the towel touched the wounds, which made things much easier. The final touch was the dressing of the wounds.

Seeing that the maid seemed to have no idea where to begin, standing there with the bandages confusedly, Lucy held her hand out. "Let me, I've done it before." She said softly, her voice a little croaky with lack of use.

Hesitantly, the maid gave the bandages to the girl and silently watched as she quickly got to work. Beginning right under her chest, she moved downwards, circling the bandages easily around herself, trying not to mind the stiffness of every movement and not cringe in hurt.

Iris quickly turned to the hangers, where the two guys' jackets hung. Having full confidence that the blonde knew what to do, from having seen that little bit, she proceeded to clean the two pieces of clothing for any blood-stains there might have been.

It all went in silence though, so it was easy to hear as the invited people arrived, probably not knowing the full extent of what was going on.

Right as her assumption were, the people gathered in the other room really didn't have much idea why they were even there. "So…. You guys wanna tell me why the hell I'm here?" Haizaki asked, sitting on the floor with one elbow on the low table, his hand messing up one cheek in his boredom.

"As I have already told you, we're waiting for Lucy." Nijimura told him curtly, already annoyed with the guy. Out of all of the brats, that one was the one he missed the least.

"And just what the hell is she doing?" Haizaki continued, despite already having had his answer answered once. It was literally only to piss Nijimura off, and everyone present knew that.

"She is preparing herself to deal with you for more than five minutes. Now, can you stop the incessant questions?" Akashi asked somewhat brutally, having gotten tired of the other guy. The offended expression Haizaki suddenly sported had both Aomine and Momoi giggling.

Kuroko, having drawn both of his legs up to his chest, rested his chin on his knees looked to the black haired guy, who was a year older than most of them. "This is all about those 'secrets' she's been having, isn't it?" He asked. Nijimura nodded, confirming the blue haired guy's question.

All of them were already gathered, they were simply waiting for the blonde to show up. Murasakibara was sitting at the corner, his mandatory bag of snacks right by him. Midorima was fiddling around with a hair brush, which was likely his lucky item of the day. Kise was replying to some kind of mail he'd gotten from his fangirls probably. Kagami had his trusted basketball spinning on top of his fingers while Kuroko was staring at it next to him. Haizaki looked thoroughly annoyed and even more bored. Aomine was teasing Momoi, sticking fingers into her sides while she was hoping that hitting him would stop him. Finally, Akashi, Nijimura and Shinta were leaning back, keeping a watch on all of them and listening intently for any signs that the blonde may be approaching.

That's why they were also surprised when the door suddenly opened, revealing the blonde standing there in a long bathrobe as white as the snow outside. While Iris hurried off to take care of the owner of the house, who had just come home, Akashi also noted how the clothing somehow completely concealed any proof of her being hurt at all.

The room immediately silenced as the door opened, and everyone were staring a little dumbfounded at each other. Breaking the ice, Lucy sent them all one of her bright smiles which didn't at all fit the image of the mood the redheaded captain would imagine she'd be in. "I'm sorry to keep you all waiting." She said, waving Nijimura off when he was about to jump up to help her sit down at the end of the table.

Somewhere far away Haizaki grumbled about it being about time while Aomine asked what had taken her so long. Akashi could only find himself impressed with how the blonde didn't even flinch as she sat down. He hadn't gotten very great views of her injuries, but judging from what he could gather, it was pretty serious… He knew she was just hiding it as to not worry them, but he really wished she'd be a little more outspoken about it if she was in pain.

"Now you have us all gathered here…" Midorima trailed off, putting the hairbrush down on the table as if to say he wanted to get down to business. "What is it you wished to tell us?" He asked.

A soft smile made its way to her lips, though it wasn't exactly one of joy. "Well.. It is a little hard to explain…" She said, clearly wondering about where to start with her tale.

Aomine crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the blonde directly. "It's only as hard as you let it be, Heartfilia." He commented from where he sat.

"Well.." Lucy said, breathing out a laugh. "That's true, I guess." She admitted. "Okay, then let me ask you all a question." She said, looking around at all of them pointedly, as they all looked back at her expectantly. "Do you believe in the existence of other worlds?" She asked bluntly.

Akashi furrowed his eyebrows at the question. What in the world could it have anything to do with what she was going to tell them?

Kagami stopped the ball from spinning and held it between both of his hands. "As in other planets? Because those things have already been confirmed, you know." He said, just as confused about the question as the rest of them.

She shook her head. "Not exactly planets. Something more like parallel dimensions." She corrected him.

Midorima did the usual push of his glasses, keeping his hands there as he spoke. "Theoretically I suppose it is possible, as we have no way of confirming or refuting the idea. However it does seem a little unlikely." He answered.

"That's a very strange question, Lu-chin." Murasakibara commented, popping a chip into his mouth. "I don't understand where you're going with this."

Momoi looked at the blonde with a frown, not understanding entirely either. "Yeah.. What are you saying, Lucy-chan..?" She asked, not about to jump to conclusions.

Lucy sighed lightly. "It's simple really... It's because that's where I come from." She said bluntly, having decided to just jump right out into the fray. No holding back anymore, it seemed.

The silence was deafening and the mood awkward as every single person in the room, who didn't already know this, froze on the spot and just stared at her incredulously. What she was saying was outrageous to say and impossible to believe.

"Lucchi.. You aren't being serious, are you?" Kise asked almost carefully. He could, however, see her pulling a giant practical joke on all of them. It was much more likely than what she was suggesting.

She smiled slightly, almost amusedly. "I'm afraid I am.." She said slowly, apologetically.

"But that is… Is that even possible?" Akashi asked rhetorically, stumbling over his words.

Haizaki grunted in annoyance. "Damn, that explains a lot of shit." Haizaki commented, getting strange, disbelieving looks from the entire table. "What?" He asked angrily in retaliation.

"How can you just believe it so easily, Haizaki?" Kuroko asked on behalf of everyone.

"Because it's so goddamn obvious!" He snapped back. "All of us knew that shit with the sleeping disorder was bullshit right from the beginning, the girl can take down a group of fucking men like they were toddlers all while she runs around like a fucking cheetah! If she's not from another world, I don't know _what_ the hell she is." He explained.

Aomine hummed in thought. "Hate to admit it, but the idiot over there's actually got a point." He said. "Besides, coming from America and not knowing that basketball existed? Nu-uh." He pointed out, sending the blonde an apologetic look.

Akashi could easily see the points they were making, but there was just that one thing that bugged him. "Say we believe that you are from this other world." He said, drawing the attention to himself. "What would that make of your background-story?" He asked.

Midorima nodded slowly. "It would complicate everything with you going back to your father to take care of things. How much of everything you have told us can we really believe?" He asks suspiciously, turning everyone's eyes to her.

She sighed. "You are right, there are a few things there that aren't all the truth…" She admitted. "The part about me being an aristocrat is still true. As a matter of fact, my father was the richest man in our country back when I was little and for a long time afterwards." She explained, seemingly not minding the looks she was getting. "Rather than it being in America though, it is in a country called Fiore, in a world known as Earthland." She proceeded. Everyone remained silent as they listened to her tell about her true origins, something they were all quite curious about. "Just like I told you, after my mother died, my father and I didn't see eye-to-eye at all. That was because of the last memento I had of my mother, the keys you have seen me walking around with." She said.

"You mean that pouch with the gold and silver keys you always have at your hip?" Kise asked for clarification.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, those." She confirmed. "Those aren't exactly ordinary keys… They are my - and my mom's - magic." She said, dropping the bomb.

Momoi looked at her with raised eyebrows and wide eyes, an expression seen on most of their faces. "Magic?" She repeated, getting a nod from the blonde. "But that's impossible!" She squeaked.

Immediately after the door was slammed open, revealing the older Akashi to have been eavesdropping behind the door. And apparently not finding these news to his liking. "Don't believe a single thing this woman tells you! It's nonsense! Bogus!" He yelled angrily, scaring the guests in the room.

Akashi looked up at his father with an angry frown. "Sorry, father, but please calm down." He asked his father. "We will find out whether it's true or not at the end of her explanation." He said, sending the man eyes that told him to leave.

Midorima, however, pushed his glasses up, as per usual. "I agree. I am quite curious to hear what she has to say." He agreed with Akashi. "Should you wish to hear it as well, you are welcome to stay." He offered, gesturing to the unused armchair in the corner.

The older man grunted, before placing himself in the chair with a dissatisfied look on his face. "I will not believe a single thing this woman says." He commented like a pouty child.

Seeing the blonde at a loss, Aomine spoke up. "So what can you do with those magical keys of yours?" He asked, bringing her back on topic.

She nodded. "Well.. With them, I can summon the constellations in the sky… Like Aquarius, Leo or Taurus." She said, continuing despite the confused looks on their faces. "They're the keys to their gates. Each Spirit can do their own things. Taurus is really strong, for example. Aquarius can manipulate water…" She explained, before realizing she was going to go off a tangent if she continued like that. "It's the same magic my mom had… And magic deficiency was what killed her in the end, so my father always believed that keeping me from magic would keep me alive…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, but he was being a real asshole about it all, right?" Haizaki asked, not even waiting for the nod he knew was to come. "We know that, it's just like you told us."

"Except it would be because of magic she ran away and not a simple quarrel." Nijimura butted in.

Which only served to piss Haizaki off. "Whatever." He said through clenched teeth. "What I'm really interested about is that gang you talked about." He said, actually gaining a few nods all around.

She breathed out lightly, reigning in her emotions at least for now. "Yeah, that of course wasn't a gang. It was what we call a guild." She explained. "Sort of an alternative police-force which deal with the things which are out of the normal police's league." She tried to explain.

"So basically the special ops of your world, eh?" Kagami asked, getting a nod from the blonde.

"Exactly. There are a lot of different guilds in Fiore, which all do things differently, but the members are always mages." She explained, for now ignoring the treasure hunter guilds. No need to make things complicated. "The one I joined, Fairy Tail, was the strongest of all of them."

"That's pretty cool." Kise commented with a grin on his face.

"Mmh… But if you're the strongest, you got into a lot of trouble, right?" Murasakibara asked, munching away at his snacks.

She nodded. "Yeah. With great power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is to take down all the bad guys." She explained, thinking way back to all the enemies they'd fought. Dark guilds and such..

"Wait, wait wait…" Aomine said, lifting his hands to get attention. "So what you're telling me is that you're like some action heroine we see in the movies?!" He asked, his expression both excited and confused at the same time.

She giggled a little. "Yeah, well, I'm more like the sidekick, but yes." She confirmed amusedly. "Which, I guess, would lead to my disappearance those two years." She said thoughtfully.

"I imagine you were attacked by the bad guys and that that was what kept you away?" Kuroko asked.

"Well… You could say that.." She said hesitantly. "While on an island, doing an exam to see who was qualified to take the harder missions, we were attacked by.. Well… A dragon." She said.

"A _dragon_?!" At least half of them said in unison. Almost as if it was planned.

She nodded. "Yeah. They exist in our world." She confirmed. "My best friend was raised by one." She said with a tender smile. Her best friend, whom she would never see again…

"That is literally too awesome!" Aomine almost fangirled, which Kagami, Kise and Haizaki seemingly agreed with completely.

"Well… It would have killed us all if it hadn't been because our previous guild master hadn't pulled us into a time-warp.." She said, quite quickly putting a dampener on their excitement.

"Killed? Time-warp? And dragons?" Midorima listed them up. "I do apologize, Lucy, but it is getting a little fantastical to me." He said, which Akash silently agreed to, while his father was more outspoken about his agreement.

Lucy sighed. "That's understandable. It is for my own world too, really." She said with a much lower voice. "I guess I'll have to prove myself…" She said.

"Wait." Nijimura said. "Do you really think that's a good idea, Lucy?" He asked. If she used her magic, it would only drain her of magic quicker. And now she was stuck here, that really wasn't a good idea.

She gave him a little smile, knowing what he meant. "It should be fine just once." She reassured him, then looked at Kise, who was right next to her. "Can I borrow your leg? Preferably the injured one." She asked of him.

Kise nodded slightly, a little confused. "As long as it doesn't get worse.." He said.

She smiled at him. "That's not the plan at all." She reassured him. "Just sit still." She said, gently putting her hand on his foot. "I don't have my keys with me, so… It will take a bit of focus." She said. She just got a nod from him and some of the others.

With that, she closed her eyes and blocked out her surroundings. There was one certain spirit whose powers she wanted to summon right now. She just had to focus.

To all the others, they could only watch as she sat there in a good, hard minute without anything happening at all. Really, it was so awkward even those most likely to believe her tale were beginning to doubt. If she thought just saying abracadabra and open sesame would be enough to convince them, she was wrong.

Those suspicions were soon brushed under the rug though as a non-existent, soft breeze brushed through her still wet, blonde hair. The breeze was soon followed up by a soft, golden light enveloping her entire body as if being a halo. A pair of transparent, golden-white angel wings of pure magic sprouted from her back. They spread out in all their magical glory, making every single person watching drop their jaws down at the sight of them. Then they folded in on Lucy, covering her completely from sight.

The magical moment was broken by her releasing her breath in a short burst, dispelling all signs of magic around her, but leaving her winded. She smiled at Kise when she saw the surprised expression on his face. "How does… It feel?" She asked, breathing a little heavenly.

Kise snapped out of his trance, when she spoke and he looked down at his foot as if not understanding what he was looking at. Then he got up to stand, breaking everyone else from their trances as well. A strange expression washed over his face as he put his weight on the formerly injured food.

"Nothing…" He muttered. "I don't feel anything at all!" He said, now jumping. "It's completely healed!" He said, surprised.

"If you could jump like that before our match, you would have participated." Midorima commented. "So the logical conclusion would be that you have been healed." He clarified, should anyone be confused as to what had just happened.

Just like that, Akashi's father shot up from the armchair he was sitting in and stormed out of the room, with nothing but his angry expression. To further show his frustration, he slammed the door behind him after leaving.

The room remained silent until the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard. Then Lucy took a shaky breath, planting her hand in the table. The first step towards getting up from her seat.

Before standing up though, she took a look at all of them, regret shining in her eyes. "I'm glad you all seem to believe me… I don't expect you to understand or…" She paused shortly, her gaze down-cast. "Or forgive me just yet, but…" She said, her voice lower and more fragile than any of them had ever heard. It had especially Akashi puzzled. "I'm just-" She cut herself short when she swayed in her seat and her hand shot to her head.

Seeing this as a sign that she had been needing to rest for way too long now, Nijimura, who was sitting right next to her, put his hand on her back ever-so gently. "I think it's about high time you get some sleep, Lucy." He said. It wasn't up for discussion in the slightest either.

"She can rest up in my room for now." Akashi told them absently, his mind spinning around with unanswered questions.

Was she going to be all right? What was going on? Why was she so injured? And why did she seem so different from usual? Why was she even in this world in the first place if she had her own anyway? How was all this even possible?

Most of all… What was with Nijimura's flat reactions? It was almost as if..

He was pushed away from the flood of questions by the sound of a closing door. "Please don't hate her for keeping all of this to herself." Nijimura, who had apparently returned from taking care of Lucy, asked from all of them.

While it was true Akashi wasn't exactly happy that he was told all of it this late, that wasn't really what was bugging the redheaded captain so much at the moment. "You seem to be awfully calm about all of this, Shuzo." He told the guy with a hard tone.

The black haired guy sighed. "Yes, well.. It's not the first time I heard this story." He conceded, defeated.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Aomine exclaimed angrily, slamming his fisted hand into the table, making the pinkette beside him jump in surprise. "Why'd she tell _you?_ "

The judgmental eyes from all the Miracles must have weighed heavily on the guy as his gaze flickered off to the window in the back. "I caught her once, when she went back to her own world… She just disappeared right in front of my eyes." He explained, vividly remembering that day even now.

"I see.." Midorima muttered. "That would demand an explanation, I suppose." He commented.

"Yeah, but…" Kise trailed off, getting everyone's attention. "But why didn't she tell us before now?" he asked the question they all wanted answered. Alas, every single one of them turned to Nijimura for answers, since he now was the knowledgeable one out of all of them.

The guy plopped down at Lucy's previous seat at the end of the table with an annoyed grunt. "You know that already without me having to tell you." He said. Yet still, he explained. "It's not something easy to tell, and at some point, it just became too much to easily tell you all." He looked at them pointedly, staying by Akashi a moment longer. "Just F-Y-I, I told her to tell you many times." He defended himself.

"Looks like you didn't do a very good job at it, Cap'n." Haizaki mocked him. As per usual.

While Nijimura sent the guy an exasperated glare, Momoi cleared her throat. "But then what does her family-situation look like now? Is her father really dead and was Shirogane-san even her grandfather at all?" She asked, her brows slightly furrowed in confusion.

"Yes and yes." Nijimura answered her. "Long story short, Kozo Shirogane was also a Celestial mage and was sent here. He ended up in this world and got a wife and child. That child was Lucy's mother, and because of where her father was from, she also jumped between worlds. She found Lucy's father and stayed at Earthland. Then, of course, they got Lucy." He summed up, all without taking a break. "Then, when Lucy was caught in that time-warp, seven full years passed in her world, in which her father passed away as well. The letters are real too." He added as an afterthought.

"Whoa, wait there. That was way too much all at once." Kagami said, raising his hands in a stopping motion.

"Lucy left out quite a lot of things… Didn't she?" Kuroko asked. 'Stayed'? The way he had said that was strange. There was also the fact that seven years passed on her world, that didn't sound like a mistake. Besides that, it really felt like something heavy and scary was left unsaid.

"I would say you have a few questions to answer." Akashi told him almost apologetically. Almost.

"Right.." The guy caught in the spot light sighed. "First off, I guess.. Time in her world and ours is not connected at all. Sometimes she stays here for a week and only five minutes will have passed there. At other times, two years pass there, while seven years pass there." He explained. "There is literally no connection."

"That's too hard to understand~" Murasakibara complained out loud, which he got agreeing nods to.

"I know, it makes no sense." Even Nijimura agreed with them. It was just too difficult, when there wasn't any sense in it whatsoever.

"While that's all great and all, why is she even here in the first place?" Aomine asked impatiently.

"That's because of her magic." Nijimura replied, being earned with even more confused expressions from them all, urging him to explain that as well. "Basically, as far as I have understood, her magic is going through some kind of transformation, which will leave her to be stronger on the other side of it." He explained.

"And during this transformation-thingy, she's weaker than usual, right?" Shinta asked, saying something for the first time since everyone's arrival.

Nijimura nodded to his friend. "Yes, that's right." He confirmed. "That's why this world acts as an escape from all of the things she and other Celestial mages face in their own worlds." He clarified.

"But why would she need an escape from her home? She seemed like she really cared for those guys in her guild." He asked, his face twisted into a confused expression.

"I do not think they are what she trying to escape from." Akashi commented, everyone's eyes turning to him. "She was attacked by a dragon just a few weeks ago. Even for them, that was impossible odds, judging from how they survived." He pointed out. "I am sure that is not the first time she has been risking her life in that way." He reasoned.

Midorima pushed his glasses up, a sign that he planned to speak too. "Not to mention the fact that she and her colleagues actively seem to search for the more dangerous situations." He reminded them.

"Right. And she hates having her ass saved all the time, if I know her right" Aomine added in. "It probably sucks being weakened like that, since she'll have it thrown right into her face every day." He said thoughtfully.

A little impressed with the brats, Nijimura nodded. "You hit the nail on the head with this one." He said, internally applauding them. There was hope for them after all.

Kagami crossed his arms across his chest. "So what's the catch to coming and going back and forth like that?" He sked.

"That's the thing… If the mage says that they wish to stay in the world they don't originally come from out loud, for any reason at all, then that is what happens. If they're in that world already, then they just don't go back. If not, the next time they go there, they don't return." The black haired, former captain explained.

"As in they can't go back? To their own world at all?" Momoi asked, getting a nod from him. "Even if it's accidental?" Another nod. "Oh my…"

"And that is what has happened to Lucy, am I right?" Akashi asked, having just now placed the last piece in this puzzle.

Nijimura looked at him long and hard for a while, before nodding again. "Yes… Accidentally, she wished to stay here." He said slowly. Ignoring Momoi's horrified gasp, he continued. "She was forced into a situation where she really had to face that weakness in her own world, then passed out and came here. Distraught and panicked." He explained. "Or so I imagine… I wasn't there." He added quickly. He didn't doubt it though.

"Dang." Haizaki grunted, actually showing some kind of empathy despite himself. "Gotta be some hard-ass beasts she's friends with, if she's the weak one." And that was where the ray of hope for his capacity for empathy died out. Kagami and Aomine could only nod to it though.

"Yes… They are." Nijimura agreed, having heard of her teammates and best friends a few times. Actually, he was pretty sure the term 'beast' didn't quite cover it either.

The room sunk into silence as they all absorbed and processed all the new information they'd gotten in such a short time.

The only thing that broke the calm, was the strange golden light, which suddenly hovered above the table. At first it was little, but then it suddenly expanded in a burst. Morphed into a human-shaped form of sorts, the light faded out and revealed a person standing there. A strange person clad in a maid uniform, pink hair, shackles around her wrists and the blankest of blank expression on her face. Standing there, on top of the table, as if it was normal.

"Greetings. I am Virgo."

 **Ending it off there, of course.  
This was really difficult to write.. Alas the time it took to get it done. Drawing in every character present was really, really hard and then to keep them in character as well… Argh. Well, I did my best, and I do believe it turned out all right. But you be the judge of that.  
And yes, I do love making cliffhangers. :P**

 **You guys won't have to wait long though, I plan to have the next chapter up as usual. Just in a few days. Yup, ambitious, I know.**

 **Anyway, thanks for staying around even during this inconsistency, I hope you can forgive me. And of course, thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following!**

 **~Line464d**


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73**

 **Told ya it'd only be a few days ;P**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer:**

 **Earth~**

"Greetings. I am Virgo."

The first reaction, though a bit delayed, came from Aomine, who shot back to the wall in surprise, almost as if someone had pushed him. "Wh-What the hell is this?!" He asked, pointing almost accusingly at the pinkette on the table in front of him. Kagami shared the same reaction, though less verbal and pointy. Most others settled for looking at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Nijimura quickly recovered from the initial surprise, recognizing her as one of Lucy's Spirits. "Virgo? What are you doing here?" He asked her, drawing her attention to himself.

She turned around and looked at him. "Nijimura-sama. Hello." She said, bowing.

Haizaki also recovered from this, having gotten a glimpse of the maid's well rounded ass as she bowed. "Damn, the girl's got good taste in Spirits." He said, licking his lips voluptuously. Which earned him a basketball thrown to the head by Kuroko, who'd borrowed it by Kagami.

Virgo, being somewhat used to the remarks, ignored him completely. "I am here for my Princess." She said, as a first-aid kit appeared out of nowhere, it seemed. As if to emphasize it, a loud thump was heard from Akashi's room. "I believe I am in quite a hurry." She added, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Nijimura got up from his seat and nodded curtly. "I'll help any way I can, just tell me what to do." He said, figuring that the maid knew of Lucy's current state.

The Maid Spirit looked at him with a slightly disapproving expression. "I should think not." She said, a glint of amusement appearing in her eyes. "Unless you want severe punishment." She said almost hopefully. Unluckily for her, he raised his arms and shook his head. The pinkette turned around to face the other pinkette. "I do, however, require help. Would you be so kind, miss?" She asked, though it wasn't really much of a request thanks to her hard expression.

Momoi nodded, a cutesy serious look on her face. "Of course, whatever it is, Maid-chan." She said, immediately rising from her chair.

Virgo nodded in response. "Come then." She said, moving ahead to the door behind Nijimura.

"First door at the left." Akashi told them, though still entirely confused himself.

When the two girls had hurried into the redhead's room with hurried steps, Midorima turned to Nijimura. "Would you mind explaining what is going on?" He asked.

"I…" Nijimura trailed off. "I'm not entirely sure myself…" He said.

"It's pretty simple, isn't it?" Shinta asked, his arms crossed. "Lucy's hurt, and her Spirit apparently knows that and came here." He said, shrugging.

"She's… Hurt?" Kuroko asked slowly, wondering if he had heard wrong.

Nijimura ran a hand down his face, preparing to explain, when a deafening scream was heard from the other room. Not like the one Lucy had screamed earlier, this one was of surprise and fright.

Aomine was up and out the door before any of them could say anything, throwing the other door open violently. When the rest of them followed him in, they saw him trying to comfort a distraught Momoi, all the while trying not to let his own emotions show as he looked towards the blonde at the other end of the room.

Following his gaze, they saw the maid having resumed her work from a momentary pause, slowly unwinding the bandages which covered the blonde's entire body. "I apologize. I was not aware you earthlings are not accustomed to seeing and working with wounds." She said, not looking up as she continued her wound.

"Holy shit.. What the hell happened to Blondie?" Kagami asked, his expression one of surprise and worry for the blonde.

"What could… What could have done something such as this to her?" Midorima stammered, looking at the blonde with wide eyes, not even bothering to push his glasses up and dropping the brush to the floor.

"Magic." Nijimura answered with a grimace.

Akashi stared wide-eyes at the skin across the blonde's stomach, which was bared for all to see. Before, all he had seen was a dark crimson red color, but now it had been cleaned a little, the color seemed all the more vibrant. They looked to be almost glistening, ready to bleed again.

"Fuck, that's crazy." Even Haizaki gaped. He'd seen a lot, but this far exceeded anything he'd seen before. "And you say she's exposed to this kind of shit all the time?" He asked.

Virgo shook her head from across the room. "No, not quite like this. This is worse than anything else she has tried before…" She trailed off. "She fought till the last though, my Princess.." She whispered, pausing her unwinding to compose herself again, before continuing her work.

"A-a-and s-she-she's b-b-bee-en suf-fe-fe-ring-ng s-s-s-so m-m-much a-all-ll t-th-this-s t-ti-me-e w-wi-ith-ou-ut t-t-te-el-li-ing a-a-ny-y o-of u-us…!" Momoi sobbed, glancing at the blonde for just a moment, before finding she couldn't handle it and burying her head into her childhood friend's chest.

Aomine looked to the blonde with a worried frown. "No matter what she does, she still thinks she has to act like the big sister." He said, running a hand through Momoi's long locks, knowing that comforted her. "We can't take that away from her." He muttered, before gently guiding the pinkette out of the room.

Kise quickly approached the pink haired Maid. "Virgo, can I help with anything?" He asked her, spreading his arms out a little as a gesture signifying him offering his assistance, feeling that he owed her at least this much from healing his foot.

Virgo paused from her work, then looked up at the blonde in front of her. "Certainly." She said with a nod, watching as the guy sat down on his knees on the other side of her Princess. "Please use this ointment on her wounds generously." She said, fishing out a tube from the first-aid kit she brought along.

Kise looked from the tube to the marred skin, understanding why Virgo had initially wanted Momoi to go for it, as the maid continued to unravel the bandages, only to reveal even more wounds. Though.. Even if it was sort of awkward doing something like that to someone he considered his sister, it was more than necessary. It was hardly understandable that she'd been able to hold out for as long as she had…

Akashi watched silently, not entirely taking note of how Midorima ordered half of the group out to give the blonde some space and how Nijimura joined in, beginning to remove the bandages around her feet and legs.

Judging from the way Lucy was lying on the floor, it looked like she had been trying to escape through the window… She had been trying to run away. So that she wouldn't be a burden on them..? She probably also thought they all hated her, because she was so late out with it. Which didn't really seem to be the case. It was all a little too abstract for them to truly understand yet.

However… He couldn't believe she had attempted to do something so drastic. At the same time… It made sense, coupled with what Nijimura had told them. For all in the world, the last thing she wanted was to be a burden on any of them, like she felt she was to the ones from her own world.

He didn't know what it was like in her world exactly, but to him, she was strong. The strongest person he knew. Even though she had lost so many people who were so important to her - probably more so than he could comprehend - and even though she was this injured, she still stayed strong. Whether it be in order to not burden them, to stay in her sister-role, or not didn't matter. That took strength.

It was fortunate she hadn't had any success with her escape. If she had, all of this would only have gotten worse. She would have gotten worse. And thank the heavens Virgo showed up when she did, that ointment had to be magical.

"I am afraid my time seems to be running out." Virgo suddenly said, having removed the last of the bandages around her arm.

"Huh?" Nijimura asked.

The Spirit turned her blue gaze to the guy. "I am currently here of my own power, but this world drains me rather quickly." She explained. "Please use that ointment all over and do not save any. There should be another one in the kit as well." She said.

Kise nodded, determined. "Of course. And then we bandage her up again afterwards right? These things need to be changed." He said, looking at the reddened bandages for emphasis.

Virgo nodded. "Correct." She said, already fading out of existence. "My brother, Leo, will come when she wakes up. Please leave her alone then." She said, getting nods from the surrounding people. "Also…" She said, casting her now softened gaze back to the blonde's unconscious face. "Please tell her I and everyone else misses her." She requested.

This time, it was Akashi who nodded. "Of course. That will be done." He confirmed on behalf of everyone else. That would mean the world to the blonde, they knew that now.

Virgo nodded to them. "Thank you…" She said, almost transparent now. She leaned down, her forehead touching her master's. None of them could hear what the pinkette was whispering, but before they could figure it out, she was consumed by golden light and then vanished with it.

"Let's quickly finish this…" Kuroko said, suddenly kneeling down in the spot Virgo had just left. "And then let Lucy rest." He added. The others nodded and Akashi joined the other three, the four of them being the only ones left in the room.

The process of first smearing her wounds with the soft, warm ointment was what took the shortest time, bandaging her up again took more consideration. Of course, they hadn't touched the part which covered her… Lady parts, but now they were to change them, they were faced with a problem..

"Uhm.. Well, Virgo didn't remove them, so… Can't we just keep those and just.. Y'know, bandage the rest of her up with the new ones?" Kise suggested, scratching his chin awkwardly.

"I think that would be for the best…" Nijimura agreed, to which Akashi and Kuroko nodded as well.

Alas the four quickly got to it and worked together to cover the blonde up again. Their work wasn't quite as well done as the one before, but they managed to wrap it all around her - neither too tight nor too loose. Finally, they worked her into the bathrobe and in a shared effort got her back up in Akashi's bed, while Akashi himself made sure the window was locked intricately enough that she wouldn't try to escape if she woke up again.

Finally, all four of them returned to the room, where everyone was waiting.

"So…" Aomine started out as they appeared in the door, and arm around a still sobbing pinkette. "Is she doing all right?" He asked gently as the four of them placed themselves by the table again.

Akashi nodded slowly. "Yes, she should be… Probably." He confirmed. "I imagine the tools Virgo brought were laced with magic to quicken the healing." He added. After all, a simple ointment would do nothing but soften up the scabs, but that didn't seem to be the intent of it.

"That's good." Kagami muttered.

"Now, why don't you explain what the fuck got her ended up like that, Cap'n?" Haizaki suggested, looking at the black haired guy with raised eyebrows, clearly not satisfied he hadn't known of this before now.

Nijimura sighed for the umpteenth time that day, gently massaging the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. It had been a seriously long day for him at this point. "I don't know the details of it, but I imagine it was part of the tournament they're doing back in her world right now." He said, releasing his nose.

"What kind of tournament is this? To get her so many wounds." Midorima asked, curiosity showing by how he once again pushed his glasses up.

"It's a magic tournament in which the guilds compete to see who's strongest." The former Tenrou captain explained shortly, figuring it'd make them realize what was going on.

"So you're telling me they all fight it out with each other instead of the bad guys? And that it reaches that point?" Aomine asked, nodding towards the other room.

"Well…" Nijimura trailed off, trying to remember what little Lucy had told him. "There was something about the current best guild not liking them very much. From what I could understand, they are as close as you get to being a bad guy without being it… Which would explain Lucy's current state.." He said. He hadn't thought she'd meant they would be this vicious when she'd told him at the time…

"That sure is a tough world to live in." Murasakibara said, having put his bag off to the side when they all ran into Akashi's room. He hadn't picked it up since, all of his appetite gone. For once.

For a short moment, the silence once again seemed to be taking over. But just as all hope seemed lost, Shinta stood up from where he had been sitting. "I think it's about time I get home. It was really just by accident I ended up staying here, I've probably overstayed my welcome by now." He said with a little laugh to himself as he approached the door. He looked down at his friend. "Just call if anything turns up, okay?" He asked, to which he got a nod. With that, he smiled and waved to everyone present. "Bye everyone, looking forward to seeing you all sometime soon." He said, being replied with something similar as he left the building.

With his leave, Kagami also got up. "I'll follow that guy's example and get out of your hair now. I'm sure you all have something to talk about concerning all of this." He said, also approaching the door. "Thanks for having me." He said with a single hand in a waving gesture lifted up as he slipped out of the room as well.

And right as he was, there was still a single thing they needed to talk about. "Now that Lucy is stuck in our world, we should figure something out as to where she'll stay." Midorima pointed out.

"Well, isn't she just going to be staying over with her grandma?" Aomine asked, shrugging.

"Nah, the grandma's out on a trip right now. And I'm pretty sure the key to the house is in the pouch of hers anyway." Kise said, having been the first to find Lucy after she'd found that out.

"Then that is out of the discussion." Akashi decided. "Besides, leaving her to her own devices at this point is not an option." He said. She wouldn't take care of herself properly, she'd be running around doing her best at everything instead of recuperating first. She'd be just as reckless as she was, trying to escape out of the window.

Kuroko nodded. "Then… She is going to stay with one of us temporarily?" He asked carefully.

Nijimura nodded. "It would seem so…" He confirmed. "It shouldn't be too far away, she isn't exactly in a good condition right now, so I'm counted out..." He said. Just as Haizaki sat up a little straighter, a smile spreading on his face, Nijimura glared at him. "She's not going to be staying with you Haizaki, don't get your hopes up for nothing."

"Aw, goddammit." Haizaki cursed, an irritated look dominating his face and body language.

"I've got a pair of sisters, they'll pester me to no end if I bring someone like Lucy with me home.." Kise said apologetically, which was simply brushed off.

"Yeah, we should probably avoid siblings.." Nijimura agreed. "Which means she can't stay at Murasakibara's either." He concluded, earning only a little shrug from the purple haired guy. "And you, Aomine and Momoi, live too far away." He added, to which he got two disappointed nods.

"Then the decision is between Kuroko, Akashi and I?" Midorima asked, though it was unnecessary.

A single knock was heard on the door behind Nijimura. "May I come with a suggestion?" Iris asked, to which Akashi urged her on. "It is by Mr. Akashi's suggestion, but should she wish so, we could prepare one of our guest rooms for her." She offered, a little smile on her lips. Something about that girl had softened the older Akashi up. Perhaps it was because she was so alike Shiori, Akashi's mother, who had passed away so tragically.

Nijimura looked at all of them for a short moment, before turning to Akashi. "Would you be all right with this arrangement, Akashi?" He asked.

"Of course." He confirmed. "As long as Lucy agrees to it as well." He added.

The former captain of the whole band smiled. A true smile for the first time since finding her out there on the street. "She may need some pushing, but she knows this is what's best for her too." He said. And then, as if he was a judge, he hit the table with his hand as a replacement of the hammer judges usually had. "Then it's decided, she'll be staying here."

 **Earthland~**

Natsu closed his eyes, clenching the brown, little leather pouch in his hands as he had so many times already this past week. Ever since she disappeared.

A pair of days had already passed since the end of the Grand Magic Games and all the craziness with future Rogue and Levy and all the dragons had passed. It was all thanks to Yukino, Hisui and _her_ keys that they closed the Eclipse Gate before more than seven dragons slipped out.

Fairy Tail had won and become the number one guild in all of Fiore again… But none of that victory could be felt in the guild at all. Because they were missing one person. One very valuable and very precious person. A person they wouldn't be getting back.

He could still vividly remember when she had disappeared for the last time. Almost as if he was reliving the whole scene again and again.

He could do nothing but watch as that sadistic bitch threw her around like a ragdoll. Drawing out as much pain as possible, while keeping her conscious all the while. He remembered the evil smirks and the laughs. He could still hear her horrible, terrifying, bloodcurdling screams in his head. It had been like that bitch had tried to draw out as many different ones as possible.

Yet. All he could do was watch as the malicious magic exploded all around her and tore her skin open. All he could do was smell the metallic scent of her blood as it seeped out and spread in the water. All he could do was listen to her muffled but clear shrieks of agony.

Screams he never wanted to hear again.

The judges had been way too long about putting an end to it. It was already too late then. They were too late. She was already dangling lifelessly out, the only thing keeping her up being the grip around her neck. Didn't they see they were too late already? They must have enjoyed it too.

His body had moved of its own then. Gray's had too. They had almost stumbled in their efforts to reach her in time. But it didn't matter either way. They were too late too.

She had only been an inch away. Only a single inch. She had been so close to landing safely in his arms. But she didn't. She was that inch away, when she disappeared. She was so close. Her sweet scent, covered in blood, so close. And then it was gone. Leaving behind nothing but her pouch.

He remembered how his white-hot fury had overpowered him and every sense he owned. Promising nothing but imminent death for the Sabers.

It was already in the following match he got a chance at revenge. To pummel the two Dragon Slayers thoroughly. Teach them what it meant to be and enemy of Fairy Tail. What it meant to take away and hurting a dragon's most precious person. What it meant to be _his_ enemy.

They were beaten, but no satisfaction came out of it. Erza beat that bit later on too. That wasn't what he had wanted either.

All he wanted was for her to return to him again. He just wanted her here… With him. With everyone. He wanted to sleep next to her every night and eat the breakfast she made every day, as they had used to do. He wanted her sweet smell and her bright smile. He wanted to be able to touch her and hug her any time he wanted to. He wanted her kindness and her anger, her sadness and her happiness. He wanted to go on missions with her and have fun with her. He wanted to protect her from any and all danger and pain. He just.. wanted her back.

But that was the only thing he couldn't have.

She was gone. Away from him and with someone else. Far, far away, out of his reach. He could never again sleep next to her every night or eat her breakfast every day, as they had used to do. He could never again smell her sweet scent or see her bright smile in anything but his memory. He could never again fell her kindness or her anger, her sadness or her happiness. He could never again go on missions with her or have fun with her. He could never protect her from the danger and pain she was in right now. He could never again.. have her back.

And it was all because of a single, little mistake. A mistake which separated them forever.

She had wished to stay there… For a brief moment she had wished that, but it was enough. For a brief moment, she had chosen them over him. Over everyone. But that had been enough.

That was what Loke had said when he came here…

 _ **Flashback~**_

 _They had just returned from Crocus an hour ago and were talking and laughing happily with each other. After all, they had just won the Grand Magic Games and become the number one guild._

 _Of course, it would be much more fun when they told Lucy about all of this when she returned. For now they trusted that the healing from one world to another and whatever aid the earthlings could do was enough. If it hadn't been, they'd already have heard from her Spirits. Besides, it wasn't the first time she'd been away for days while being on Earth._

 _Not to misunderstand, they were worried about her all right, but they also realized that, with where she was now, there really wasn't much they could do to help her. But Lucy was strong, she could handle herself._

 _That was the primary argument which kept them all from sinking into a pit of worry or breaching any and all walls between the two worlds. It didn't quite work on everyone though, team Natsu had been very reluctant to leaving Crocus. So far, she had almost always reappeared the same place she had disappeared. And now they weren't there, if she came back… It'd be a mess. And they honestly could hardly wait to make sure she was all right._

" _It's been three days now… She'll be back soon, right?" Natsu asked, despite knowing the others wouldn't know anything about that. No more than he did._

" _Natsu, we don't know. We told you already." Gray grumbled, though he's wanted to ask the same question so many times too. Maybe she was back already? Maybe she was being taken care of by someone in Crocus already? Right now…_

 _With a deep sigh, Natsu nodded apologetically. He knew. Of course he did. But he just wanted to ask. Anything to pass the time. He couldn't drink away like everyone else seemed to.. He was too worried for his partner. She had been in a really bad condition…_

 _Everyone stopped what they were doing, when a bright, golden light they knew so well appeared in the middle of the guild hall. Hope rose in all of them. Had she finally returned?_

 _However… That wasn't quite the case, they found. You could feel how the entire room deflated, when all they saw was the Lion Spirit. It quickly changed to concern, when they saw his ragged state. Though his hair was always a mess, it was not a good kind of mess it was now. He had shed his glasses, which clearly showed the haggard look in his eyes. And the remnants of tears, seemingly some which threatened to fall again._

" _This really can't be good." Gray muttered as he leaned forward. He was the one who knew the Lion best. Though, despite that, all of them knew that the guy never cried unless something serious happened._

" _Hello everyone… Glad I have your attention." Loke said, his tired voice ringing out in the now completely silent guild hall._

 _Erza rose from her seat and approached. "Loke. Please tell us, how is she?" She asked._

 _He looked up at her exhaustedly. "She's fine… She'll be fine. Virgo made sure of that.." He told them, averting his eyes to the floor. "She'll be fine…" He repeated himself._

" _Loke…" Gray muttered, worried about his friend and the troubled… Almost tormented expression haunting his face._

 _Mira approached the ginger Spirit and gently placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Whatever it is, Loke, you can tell us." She reassured him with a soft smile._

 _Natsu nodded. "Yeah, if it's about Luce, please tell us." He almost begged him, anxious to know more about his best friend's state._

 _The Spirit sighed, holding his eyes closed for a moment. "It_ is _about Lucy…" He started out. "I just visited her a moment ago and we… Talked a lot about what would happen now." He said, clearly not too eager to say what he wanted to say out loud._

 _The Fire Dragon Slayer had a pretty good idea of what was going on just from that… When it was about his friends, he could be sharp. "Don't tell me… Don't tell me she chose to… To…" He was unable to finish the sentence himself, but he could see everyone else catching on to the meaning of his words._

 _Loke looked at him with tender, apologetic eyes. "She… When she came there, she was so sad. No, she wasn't just sad… She was depressed, hurting." He said in a low voice, taking a firm grip of the jacket right above his heart. "We could all feel it… Her agony, her pain… How much her heart ached and hurt. Her wounds were nothing in comparison… It was horrible." He muttered, his voice cracking in the end as his hand began shaking in emotion. "She didn't know what she had done until it was already too late." He said, his voice trembling._

" _No…" Natsu muttered, feeling his heart breaking into a million pieces inside of him. This couldn't be happening… "No… She… She didn't.. She couldn't have… She.. She promised she wouldn't.." He rambled on, not making any sense. "I… I can't.." He mumbled brokenly, his legs collapsing underneath him as he crashed to the ground, covering his face in his hands. "L-Luce…"_

" _I… I'm sorry, Natsu.. Everyone. But… Lucy is at Earth now…" Loke's voice was teary, proof of his emotions overwhelming him again._

 _Not able to hold himself up, he fell forward right until his forehead touched the ground. Everything shattered inside of him. She had promised she wouldn't leave him. Like Igneel. Like Lisanna. She'd promised she wouldn't do that. But… But… She couldn't keep it. She'd left him, just like the two of them. She'd left… And she wouldn't return._

 _The smell of the whole guild's tears and the sound of their sobs and broken whispers quickly became too much for him to handle. Punching the floor once, he jumped to his feet and ran out, away from all of them, where he could be alone… Just as alone as he felt._

 **Earthland~**

Maybe he just didn't deserve to keep someone he loved.. Maybe that was why they were always taken away from him when it hurt most… In the most cruel of ways.. Disappeared, stolen from him or gone by choice..

Everyone had been trying to convince him that it was by mistake and that it wasn't because of him… But it didn't make it any better. If he had just thought she'd chosen Earth because that was where she wanted to be, then maybe it would have been easier… But no, it was by accident. Which means she hadn't meant to. She was suffering over there too.

It only made it all the more unbearable. All the more painful to accept.

It was impossible to expect him to accept something like that. It was not something you just accepted. It wasn't… It was something… Something you fought to redo.

He wouldn't just accept it. If he accepted it, it would mean giving up. And he had promised her that no matter where she went, he'd come get her. He was going to do that, no matter what it took. He would do anything he could to keep his promise. He didn't like breaking promises. Not at all.

With that, he jumped up on the table. "Fuck this! I'm getting her back! Who's with me?!" He yelled out into the guild, completely silencing any chatter going on in the guild hall.

"Idiot.." Gajeel grunted from where he sat in the corner, after a moment of absorbing what the idiot had just said. "Haven't you been listening to a single fucking thing she told you, shithead? It's impossible, okay? _Impossible._ " He grumbled back at him.

"No! No matter what it takes, I'll get her back!" He said, determination overflowing in him. Nothing could bring him down right now.

Erza crossed her arms over her armored chest and looked at him with a disappointed expression. "Natsu. Gajeel is right, it is impossible for us to get to her. You should know not to say things like that at a time like this." She told him harshly. How dared he trying to get their hopes up in a hopeless situation such as this one? It was a cruel thing to do.

Natsu glared directly at the knight. "I don't give a damn! I'll learn Celestial magic and go there myself if I have to!" He yelled angrily, clenching the pouch by his side. Why were they all going against him? Why was no one backing him up?

"Natsu, sweetie." Mira started out. "Even if you learn it, it isn't certain you'll be ending up in the same country, much less the same time-period as her. You might be centuries before her." She reasoned with him.

"Besides that, Celestial magic takes years to learn, it's not just something you do overnight." Gray added, looking at him accusingly as well. It was painful to hear him say all those things and having to prove him wrong. They all wanted her back more than anything else right now. She had basically become a taboo topic just a few hours after Loke had returned home the other day.

"I. Don't. CARE!" Natsu screamed, fire bursting out all around him and flickering wildly in every direction.

"NATSU!" Makarov yelled, having heard enough of this also. "Stop this nonsense at once! Come to your senses!"

"NO!" He yelled out. "I fight for my nakama! I thought we all did! But you're all sitting around, doing nothing!" He accused all of them. "This is not the Fairy Tail I thought it was! You don't care about her at all, do you?!"

He wasn't able to say anything more as an icy fist hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying down to the floor and sliding over it. Looking up, he was faced with a thoroughly pissed expression from his rival. "What the hell makes you think we don't care about her, you bastard?! We care for her as much as you fucking do! We'd do anything, we've tried to come up with something that might help, but there's nothing! NOTHING!" He yelled, his voice as raw with emotion as Loke's had been the other day. "Don't think we haven't tried all we could…"

An old, croaky chuckle broke the tension which had quickly built up in the room. "Oh my, this is quite a situation you've gotten yourselves into here, isn't it?" The voice of an elder lady said almost amusedly. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance in this matter?" The hooded, apparently old, lady suggested.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Makarov asked her, not quite as friendly as he would have normally been. However the woman had barged in here at a very bad time.

Everyone watched as she slowly pulled the hood off, revealing her face. She was a little plump, wearing a pair of librarian-glasses and had pulled her silvery gray hair up into a bun on top of her head. "You may call me Mary."

 **Aaaaand I'm leaving it off there~ 'Cause I have a tendency to make cliffhangers and being mean, so that's what I'm going to do.**

 **Honestly… This was supposed to be split up in two different chapters, but they'd only be around 2.500-3.000 words if I did that. It'd be no good. So I put them together.**

 **I really thought I succeeded with bringing out Natsu's feelings up there, throughout the flashback and before then. Hope you felt the same.**

 **Now… How many of you had expected Mary to have any kind of significance in the story? And. How many of you remember who she is?**

 **Alas, I hope you liked this chapter! And thanks for reading, following, favoriting and obviously, reviewing - even though my theory with not mentioning doesn't seem to have any effect on whether I reply or not... I read them all though! And most even bring a lil' creepy smile on my face in the middle of class XD I'm just glad you all like this story, that's all**

 **~Line464d**


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74**

 **Glad none of you thought Mary'd be the savior in all of this. I admit though, I didn't hint it a lot, so it's obvious you wouldn't, but still. Plot twists and cliffhangers are life ^-^**

 **I apologize for any grammar error I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: Yet still, 'tis only partly my story. Characters've been stolen, parts of the plot's been stolen. 'Tis merely… What it is, I guess. **

**Earth~**

"Damn, those American bastards are tougher than I expected." Aomine grumbled as he plopped down on a bench some distance away from the court they'd just been playing on the first of half of the match.

"Yeah, they are way different from our senpais and anyone we've ever played before..." Kise agreed, taking a seat next to the blue haired guy, pouring some fresh, cold water into his mouth.

"Indeed." Akashi agreed, dabbing his sweaty forehead a little slowly. "It would seem we are at a disadvantage.. Probably due to the fact that not all of us are accustomed to this kind of play." He reasoned, seemingly taking the whole situation really coolly. To those that knew him though, it was obvious that his mind was spinning wildly to come up with something.

"Not only that, fact remains their overall height is greater than ours as well." Midorima added, readjusting his glasses as usual. "That and I imagine we made the mistake of underestimating them."

"America really is something, huh?" Kuroko muttered primarily to himself. Murasakibara mumbled an agreement, clearly irritated with the trouble they were facing. Hard work wasn't his thing.

"Come on now, guys! We can't just give up like this!" Kagami exclaimed, not used to the lack of spirit there was in this group compared to Seirin. "They're not unbeatable, we just need to figure something out." He argued.

Nijimura nodded. "Yes, they have to have a weakness somewhere, we just need to find it." He agreed, speaking up though he wasn't the captain of this team.

Momoi smiled brightly at their nods of agreement. "I know you can do it, everyone!" She cheered for them.

Lucy smiled apologetically, taking a gentle hold of her elbow with her other hand. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, guys…" She said with a sigh, easily turning every eye on her.

Akashi shook his head. "You are in no condition to play a match such as this, do not worry about it." He tried to reason with her, though it was more or less an impossible task. It wasn't the first time she'd said things like that during the month she'd been at Earth, after all. In a way.. He both understood it entirely and then not at all at the same time.

"Besides." Aomine said, his eyes narrowing in the direction of the opponent team. "Those disgusting bastards wouldn't pass up a chance to feel you up, even if it's in the middle of a match." He grumbled, drinking almost demonstratively from his bottle.

"Yeah!" Momoi piped in. " _And_ it's important that we cheer for everyone too! We need to support them!" She said determinedly, balling her hands.

Lucy smiled softly and nodded. "Of course.. You are right." She had both seen and felt the effect of when the audience was not in the favor of someone who was used to the opposite. It could very well be disastrous. However, the knowledge that those closest to them were backing them up often repaired the damage.

Although the audience's favor wasn't a problem in their situation. Those Americans weren't being very nice to anyone, really. Still, Momoi was right, they needed to support all of them however they could. No matter whether she was feeling useless or not. She'd get on top of all this again… Someday.

"With the break we are having now, will you be able to continue playing in the third quarter, Daiki? Akashi inquired, all of them having already turned to strategizing while Lucy was lost in thought.

"Hell yeah I can! I won't be pulled out now!" The guy answered firmly.

"Good. What about you, Taiga?" He asked his fellow redhead.

"Yeah, no problem." He confirmed with a curt nod.

Akashi nodded as well. "That is good." He repeated himself. "However do not burn yourselves out entirely, we may require yours and Tetsuya's combinations in the fourth quarter." He reminded them, earning three nods. With that, he turned to Kise. "Sometime at the end of the third quarter, we will be switching those two out, be ready by then." He ordered, getting another nod. "Likewise with you, Shintaro, be ready by the end of the third quarter as well." He finalized.

"All right. So that will leave Akashi, Aomine, Kagami, Murasakibara and myself out on the court after this." Nijimura summarized. "What's the plan?" He asked the little, red haired captain of the team.

Just before he could answer himself, Lucy placed a hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping him in his tracks, and beat him to it. "To use Daisuki-chan and Kagami as decoys while you, Shuzo, use your drives to get through their defenses and pass the ball to Atsushi, who will score." She explained. "Seijuro will be there to make sure it all proceeds smoothly, am I right?" She asked the person she had just interrupted.

Akashi nodded, impressed she'd somehow picked that up along the way. "Yes, that is what we will go with primarily. However, expect that things may need to be switched up in order to fit the situation." He explained, then turned to the two decoys. "Should this method fail for any reason, I expect you two to be ready to back us up." He ended it off.

Aomine nodded with a grin. "Yeah. We've got your backs." He reassured them, getting a nod from Kagami as well.

That was when four sets of heavy footsteps stopped just a little away from them, having approached from behind. "Oh, so this is where you are, Bunny Girl. Thought I smelled ya here." A gruff voice said amusedly, adding a strange laugh to the mix.

Akashi quickly turned around and took a step forward, easily establishing his position as leader - or captain in this specific case - of the group, garnering the intruders' attention and covering the blonde girl, whom he had no doubt were their target, from sight. All at once.

"Who are you and what is your purpose here?" He asked the bunch of four strangely dressed - and one undressed - people. Clearly, they were not Japanese, so the immediate conclusion would be that they were Americans as well. Lucy's gasp all but confirmed his suspicion.

The strangely undressed guy looked at Akashi with a beyond displeased expression. "Isn't it obvious, redhead? We're friends of the girl right behind you." He said harshly, his arms crossed in obvious irritation.

Akashi looked at them suspiciously. He was not going to fall victim to such a blatantly obvious lie. "I would like you to lea-" But before he could finish his sentence, the blonde girl in question rushed right past him and towards the strange people.

Not saying a single thing, she flew straight into the open arms of the pink haired guy, being given only a very short moment, before the undressed guy and a woman clad in armor all enveloped her in a sort of.. Group hug. The last guy, a wholly terrifying-looking person, smirked at the four of them for whatever reason.

When all that could be heard from the girl, who was the only thing all of these people had in common, was heartbreaking, yet still happy, sobs, the pink haired guy spoke up. "Yeah, we missed you too, Luce." He said. He was trying to hide it, but the emotions which were apparently roiling through him showed in his voice.

The almost naked guy flicked the blonde's head playfully. "You can't just go and do something like that. You got us all worried about you, you know." He berated her softly, no harshness was even in a mile's radius.

"I-I know… I'm sorry." Came the tiny reply, choked by tears that none of the basketball players could see.

"Wasn't this supposed to be impossible…?" Kise asked the others around him in a whisper. It was a silently agreed consensus that they shouldn't disturb the reunion between Lucy and the people, who had to be some of her closest friends back in Earthland.

"Yes, from what Lucy has told us, it should not be possible for them to be here unless they should all have learned Celestial magic and somehow ended up at the exact same time and place as us." Midorima said, pushing his glasses up.

"That's even more impossible. They've probably found some other way to do it." Nijimura suggested. Form what he and the others had learned so far, it seemed like these guys always found some roundabout way of beating the odds. Kinda like Seirin, she'd compared them to, apparently. And they didn't fail to do just that this time either.

Akashi watched silently, in wonder as the first three finally let her go only for her to proceed to even give and receive a fairly awkward hug from the last guy, though he didn't seem to really mind much. He never knew they were so… Touchy. With each other.

"Ah, yeah. I've got a gift for ya, by the way." The black haired guy said, flashing her a grin, which showed off his inhumanly pointy teeth. He quickly fished out a little bag every single person present could recognize.

"M… My keys…" She whispered, her voice seemingly almost gone. She reached out with shaking hands and slowly took the pouch from the guy, looking at it unbelievingly for a long moment, before drawing it in to her chest, hugging it. She slowly slid down to a standing fetal-position with the many metal objects in the middle. It wasn't blinding, but a soft glow could be seen from the magical object, yet another proof of their existence _and_ of her connection with them.

While the red haired knight-lady sent the naked guy out to search for his clothes, Nijimura approached. "So, you all must be from Fairy Tail, right?" He asked, gaining their attention.

The said lady in the group stepped forward, a somewhat serious look on her face. "Yes, you are correct, we are her guild mates and friends." She presented herself and the other three proudly. The pride soon vanished, when she bowed deeply towards all of them. "Thank you so much for receiving Lucy as well as you have and taking care of her in our absence." She said, gaining a nod from the pink haired guy as well.

Lucy looked up from the crouched position she was in and at her friend. "Erza.. You…" She trailed off, not sure what to say to what she was seeing.

Nijimura smiled at this. "Oh, that's not something to thank us for, is it?" He asked hintingly to everyone behind him as the woman, Erza apparently, rose up again.

Aomine was the first to speak up. "Yeah, that was no problem at all!" He reassured them with a grand smile.

"Yes. That is what any decent person would do." Midorima added.

"Yeah… But we couldn't be sure if you all are the kinda people who are decent enough for that kinda thing." Natsu argued. Before he could say anything more, a sword flew straight past his face, almost gracing him. "But you're all okay though!" He quickly added.

"Oi! Erza, you can't just throw swords around, people could get hurt." The now not-so-almost-naked guy called out from where he was approaching, walking with the sword in hand as if what had happened was completely normal. Meanwhile, everyone from Earth was just staring at them all with wide eyes.

Kise was the first to break out of the surprise. "Man.. That's awesome." He muttered, to which he got eager nods from Aomine.

With Erza completely disregarding the guy approaching, she turned her attention to Nijimura again. "Either way, I- we all appreciate everything that you have done." She said.

Lucy shot up in a flash and looked at the knight. "Erza, please." She said, an unsaid 'just stop, please, I'm getting embarrassed here' floating around in the air around them.

"We didn't mind at all! Lucy-chan's a wonderful person! Of course we would help out any way we could!" She said, almost jumping around where she stood. Her statement got quite a few nods though.

"Hey, Bunny." The gruff guy called out to her, leaning towards her. "What kind of spell did you hit these people with?" He asked, grinning widely at his own joke.

Lucy scowled at him though and hit him as hard as she could on the arm. "Ass." She growled, to which she only got a bark of laughter.

With this, Akashi stepped forward to stand next to Nijimura. "I'm afraid we are a little pressed on time, so introductions will have to be postponed for now." He said, sending Nijimura a look that said he'd dragged it out too long.

"Oh, we're interrupting something?" The previously almost naked guy asked, handing the sword back to the woman, who dematerialized it into thin air.

"Well, you could say that." Kagami agreed, having been silent up until now. "We are in the middle of a match at the moment." He explained shortly.

"A basketball match, you mean?" The pink haired guy asked.

"Indeed." Akashi confirmed, gesturing lightly to all of their similar clothes.

"Ohhh…" The pink haired guy drawled. "That's awesome! We gotta watch that!" He said excitedly, almost jumping where he stood - much like the other pinkette in the room.

Lucy sighed after having fastened her belt with her pouch again, looking at the guy. "It's not like you have a choice either way." She said. "Also.. From now on, no magic, okay? None." She said, looking pointedly at all of them, with no exception.

"Guess she's not just _our_ big sister, eh?" Aomine almost laughed, seeing the guys' terrified expressions as they nodded, Erza a bit more calmly.

"All right then, let's go." She said, truly smiling back at all of them. That bright smile, which had been gone for a while now.

"Yeah, we're gonna beat their sorry asses now!" Aomine said as they all set off towards the court.

They came back to see their American opponents, the Jabberwocks, on the court, already ready and leering dangerously at the now slightly expanded group. "Oh? What is this? Brought a group of cheerleaders to cheer you up? That's awfully cute." The ace of their team, Silver, cooed, gaining the desired mirthful laughs from his team, excluding their captain, Nash, who sent the guy a look.

"Yeah, just like you." Gajeel shot back, earning a scowl from the dark-skinned American. The hard look he got from Lucy had him rolling his eyes. "What? It's not magic. Or are you telling me it's normal to just take shit like that?"

"No, but this is not your fight, Gajeel." She told him as they reached their bench. She discreetly gestured to all the boys behind her. They hadn't even heard the guy, they were all too absorbed in their strategizing of defense to really notice it. As she had expected, that made the Iron Dragon Slayer settle down. "By the way, you guys haven't told me how you're all here? Did you figure out how to create animas of your own or something like that?" She asked them curiously.

"Oh, yeah!" Natsu exclaimed as if it had been something he'd prepared himself to tell her, but had forgotten. "I had just decided that I was going to bring you back just the day after Loke came and told us all that with the mistake and everything, but everyone was like 'Noooooo that's impossible, you can't do it' and then I was like 'But I promised her I would, I have to!', and everyone kept going like 'Noooooo', but then some old lady called Marie or something came and was all like 'Maybe I can help you'!" He rambled on endlessly, not taking any breaks.

"Mary, Ash for Brains. Her name was Mary, not Marie." Gray corrected him with a scowl. That guy and names..

"Yeah, whatever!" He said and was about to continue his rambling when Lucy cut him off.

"Did you say her name was 'Mary'?" She asked, getting confused nods. "A plump, elder lady with silvery gray hair pulled into a bun and a pair of glasses?" She asked, staring hard at all of them.

"Yeah, exactly like that." Gray nodded, a little freaked out that Lucy could get her appearance down so easily and precisely.

When Lucy began giggling instead of explaining, Erza got curious. "What is this all about, Lucy? Do you perhaps know her?" She asked, wanting an explanation from the blonde as much as the three guys did.

"It's just.." Lucy said, making an honest effort to halt her giggling. "She's the cafeteria lady back at their old school." She explained, pointing at the boys over her shoulder. "It's just a surprise, but at the same time so obvious… She was so different." She said, shaking her head at her own blindness. Mary really had been suspiciously accepting of Lucy's strangeness. And she came with strange comments once in a while too.. How couldn't she have seen that?

"Oh, Mary?" Someone asked behind them, making everyone but Lucy jump in surprise. "I remember her." Kuroko said. "This sounds like quite a plot-twist."

While especially the two Dragon Slayers freaked out over him sneaking up on them, Lucy turned to the little guy - who, of course, wasn't actually smaller than her - confusedly. "Tetsuya? Aren't you supposed to be part of that over there?" She asked, referring to the ongoing conversation between the players of their team.

"Oh…" He said, looking back at them. "No, I know what to do already." He said with a smile. "Besides, this is much more interesting." He bluntly stated, looking at the mages as if to will them to continue with the story.

This time, it was Erza who decided to do the explaining, seeing as Natsu would go off into a whole other topic if it was him. "As it turned out, Mary is a Celestial mage as well. She, however, initially chose to remain at Earthland. She soon found that she missed the people she knew at Earth and sought to find a method to get there without it being because of Celestial magic as it is to you now." She explained, looking at Lucy at the end.

Now Gajeel took the mantle. "That'd be about when she stumbled over a theory." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Since you guys can open gates, as you call it, to the Spirit World, then why shouldn't you be able to do the same shit to another world?" He asked, probably more or less quoting what Mary had already said. "And then she just did it." He shrugged.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, and now she can go from one world to the other whenever she wants to!" He said, spreading his arms out to emphasize the greatness of it.

Gray nodded as well. "And it seems like it has nothing to do with sleeping either." He said, before scratching the back of his head. "She can't control the time-differences or when she shows up though…" He told her, almost as if apologizing that it wasn't a possibility.

"She does have some form of control of where she opens up the portal however." Erza added in, which was the last to be said for a short moment.

"Excuse me for asking, but how will you be getting back from here?" Kuroko inquired.

"Oh, right, the squirt's got a point." Gajeel said. Lucy was a fraction of a second away from exploding on all of them for not thinking about that before leaving when he continued. "We got an hour to convince ya, then she can't keep it open any longer. So we only got 15 minutes when this game's over." He summed up.

"I.. See." She said, breathing out as she calmed herself down again, processing all the quite surprising new information she'd gotten as quickly as her mind allowed her to. "Well, it does kind of make sense… Can I learn to do what she can too?" She asked somewhat timidly. She didn't want to get her hopes up just yet - maybe Mary just.. Had another magic in her, which she didn't realize she had and it wasn't about Celestial magic at all.

And… If she couldn't, she would have to make a decision… All over again. It would be even tougher than before, because now, after a month, she had settled somewhat with the idea that her future was at Earth and not Earthland.. And she'd gotten even closer to everyone here than she was before. The choice was even more difficult now.

"Well, you have Celestial magic, don't you?" Gray asked rhetorically, accidentally breaking her out of her thoughts by doing so.

Natsu didn't bother to wait for the affirmative answer he knew he'd get. "Of course you can learn it too! She's even offered to teach you when you come back, Luce!" Natsu said, grinning widely at her with that trademark grin of his, which she hadn't known how much she'd missed until now.

"I warn you." A serious voice said behind them. "It would be quite presumptuous of you to think we would let her go as easily as you seem to think." The voice belonging to Akashi, she quickly realized, said with a hint of amusement you'd only notice if you knew him. "Now." He said, turning to Kuroko. "The match will be beginning momentarily, so be prepared for anything unexpected, Tetsuya." He told the slightly smaller, blue haired guy, who immediately nodded and placed himself on the bench designated as theirs, while the captain didn't even wait for his response before entering the court.

"You too." Aomine told her as he gestured to the bench Kuroko'd just placed himself on, not leaving any space for discussion either.

"But I'm not one of the players." She argued with him. Honestly, she just wouldn't feel right sitting down when those four had to stand up..

"So? Satsuki's not playing either, but she's still as much a part of the team as you and I are." He reasoned with her. With that, he placed a hand on her head not too gently, almost holding it like he would a basketball. "Now, ass to the bench, Heartfilia." He told her, forcing her down on the bench with a semi-rough push from her head.

Before she could even reply to his rude comment, he was already out on the court with everyone else, ready to take down their opponent.

The Fairy Tail members had watched the short exchanges intently, wanting to see for themselves what her relationship was with these people. Judging from what the little red haired guy said, she wasn't without meaning to them. The next guy's comment only confirmed it. She had more or less the same effect here as she did back in the guild.

"Is there any specific reason you are not playing in this match along with everyone else here, Lucy?" Erza asked, having taken notice of that detail. "I should think your skills are high enough to keep up with them." She added. After all she probably had a much wider array of moves seeing as she had two styles of playing, each with their own arsenal of tricks.

Lucy's smile twitched slightly, though it was barely catchable. "Well, it's not really my fight, so.." She weakly tried to lie. Even she knew it wouldn't hold up.

"That's not true, Lucchi. This is your 'fight' as well." Kise argued steadfastly. Why were everyone being so stubborn about everything today?

"In fact." Midorima said, pushing his glasses up, as was the tradition for him. "I believe this fight is more so yours than any of ours." He said. When he looked up at her again, having let himself be blinded by the sun in order to have it reflect in his glasses, he saw Lucy sitting with her arms crossed in an 'abort mission' kind of way and an addition of a desperate expression. His only reaction was to lift an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding what she was referring to.

"Luuuuuuuuce~ What are you hiding from us?" Natsu asked curiously, dragging out her name as he threw an arm around her shoulders, not noticing her flinching at the added weight.

"Nothing! It's nothing at all!" She reassured them quickly. "Oh, look! The match is starting now!" She said, scrambling to change the topic. Even if it meant awkward silence. There was just some things they didn't need to know now. Or ever. Unnecessary scenes were unnecessary.

She hadn't been lying though, the match was just about to restart again and everyone was placing themselves on the court as planned. Since her boys had brought the score difference down to two at the very last moment of the second quarter, their opponents started with the ball.

Unfortunately, it looked like the Americans had calmed themselves down now in comparison to the furious state they were playing in earlier. It wasn't a good sign at all.

The match started abruptly when the Americans suddenly flashed into motion, not about to wait for the others to be ready. "Let's see what you got now, you fucking monkeys!" Silver, the ace and the one who'd also called out to them earlier, exclaimed, dribbling furiously into the ground.

Of course, her boys were already on high alert, ready to take any incoming ball. Kagami quickly ran forward, meeting Silver halfway in an effort to intercept him. The guy was much too stubborn and prideful to give up the ball to his teammates so easily and instead went for weaseling his way past the Seirin player with a pair of quick crossovers.

The other redhead on the court had seen all of this coming though and more or less sniped the ball right out of the opponent's hands. Much to said opponent's surprise too. Instead of doing the counter himself though, Akashi opted for playing Aomine, who had already run ahead.

Unfortunately… When Aomine stepped inside the 3-point arc, the ball was stolen from his as well. The culprit, Nash, quickly played his center, and the guy dunked it in right above Murasakibara.

Already now, Lucy had a bad feeling about how this would turn out. With the Jabberwocks being much more level-headed now and with their physical and skill-wise superiority this would be a hard match to win. But they'd known that right from the first ball, yet they still had their spirits up. With that, there was at least a 1% chance of victory. Which meant it was possible.

"Is this… Really basketball..?" Natsu muttered next to her, his eyes wide as he stared at the match playing out right in front of him.

Lucy smiled, remembering that this was their first time seeing how real basketball was supposed to be played. Had to be a little strange for them to watch, having gotten used to the rough style from back at home, whereas she had been a blank canvas.

She nodded. "Yes, this is how it's supposed to be played." She confirmed for them. "Kind of beautiful, isn't it?" She asked, though she already pretty much knew the answer she would be getting.

"Beautiful…?" Kise slowly asked, confused. His question was ignored though.

Erza nodded. "Indeed. It is quite graceful." She agreed only getting strange looks from the four Earthlings, who could only see the rough style street-basket was. "I would have never guessed it was quite like this… I must learn the true way of playing." She said determinedly, digging the tip of a sword - which 'miraculously' appeared in her hands - into the ground with an emphasizing push.

"Erza.. No magic." Lucy muttered to her friend, sighing to herself. She should have known better than to actually expect them not to flaunt their magic here..

While Erza put the sword away, Gray decided to comment as well. "You sure this isn't just them pranking you, Lucy? Looks more like some kind of dance or something to me." He said, completely serious.

"… Prank? Dance..?" Kise continued, even more confused, but still as ignored.

The blonde girl giggled. "Doubt it, they'd have to get a lot of people in on it, if this was a prank." She said amusedly. Really, she couldn't wait for them to see the classic style of the game. It was way different from even this.

Despite the apparent grace of it though, the gap between the two teams widened even further, growing to a 10-point difference at the end of the quarter.

Their strategized combo had only worked for them the first few times, all the others seemed to fail. Instead, they kept using Aomine and Kagami as decoys - though switching it up once or twice - since that kept working out for them.

But even that would run out sometime, they all knew that. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, they would have it figured out. So they needed something else. Something that would take those Americans by surprise and be difficult for them to counter..

"I know what you people are missin'." Gajeel declared. Having been told the names of each of those players in the duration of the match by their common, blonde friend, he felt a little more at ease speaking to them. Though he wouldn't be telling or showing that to anyone.

Basically willing to listen to any suggestion at this point, Akashi turned to look at the bigger guy with none of the surprise he felt showing on his face. "Yes?" He asked, urging him to continue. Whatever that guy had to say, it would be possible for him to devise a plan from it.

Unless it was completely useless. Then it would be impossible, even for him.

A smirk quickly widened on the Iron Dragon Slayers, once again showing off his pointy teeth as if they were his pride and joy. "Killing intent." He simply told them.

They all went silent for a long while, just staring as if he'd just spoken German to them. "Excuse me, what?" Momoi finally asked, breaking the ice once again.

Lucy thought about Gajeel's suggestion for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, he may actually be on to something.." She admitted.

"Oi, don't say that as if I'm an idiot." He grunted, looking at the blonde exasperatedly.

She completely ignored him though. "Those guys are using a lot of flashy moves to intimidate you, how about you give them something in return?" She suggested. They were probably playing too softly, too much like they would in the Winter Cup. That wouldn't work here, these guys were different. They'd cheat if they got away with it.

"Indeed." Midorima said, doing you-know-what. "They are wasting a lot of energy on those moves. Perhaps if we strive to be more straight-forward, not wasting a single movement, we may in fact beat them." He pointed out.

"Yeah!" Natsu exclaimed, small embers flying from his mouth in his excitement. "Go for the kill!"

"That… Maybe that's going a little too far.." Kuroko slowly said, not sure how he was supposed to take the comment. For all he knew, the guy might just actually mean it.

Akashi shook his head. "On the contrary, perhaps we have been a little too soft." He admitted, having realized the same thing she did. With that said, he closed his eyes for a short moment, only to reveal a pair of heterochromatic eyes when he opened them again. One red, the other yellow. And with the Emperor Eye already blazing, at the ready. "I do think it is time to take back what has always been ours. Victory." He said darkly, his other personality shining through brilliantly.

Knowing that there was no crossing this Akashi, Kise, Midorima, Murasakibara and lastly also Nijimura all followed their captain out on the court to face their opponents in what was to be the last, deciding quarter of the match. They would have to ace this.

Lucy could only gape like a fish on dry land. She'd thought Akashi had figured things out with that other side of his. And now he just went and switched back as if that was normal and he'd been doing it forever. Her only question was 'how?'. How was this possible, when she knew for sure he had things figured out earlier? The reason for her being here became clear to her earlier after all.

Maybe, though… Just maybe, that Akashi was preferable in their current situation.

She was soon proven right, when the match began anew. With the Emperor Eye, it was now much easier for Akashi to steal the balls and break the opponents' rhythm with a single move. Not only that, but now he could also dish out ankle breaks left and right, seeing as they weren't used to him like this in the slightest.

Though not as good as his perfect passes from the original Akashi, this Akashi's passes were excellent as well. Almost as precise and quick as Kuroko's - though not as stealthy or mysterious.

The fact that Akashi had made such a 180 personality-wise also left the Americans flustered and confused. But it wasn't only him. Because of his change, the ones playing on the court with him also adopted a similar aura of seriousness. This was probably what they were like back then..

Halfway through the quarter, the Jabberwocks finally put a stop to her guys' earning of goals through double-teaming Akashi so thoroughly his teammates couldn't pass to him at all.

Fortunately though, neither Midorima nor Kise were entirely out of steam just yet. Kise still had a little above a minute left of his Perfect Copy and Midorima had his three-pointers. And then the opposing defense was down one man, since that guy was defending Akashi.

With the combination of those two playing along with the other two in offense, while Akashi held two of the opponents' attention, they could hold on still, for at least that minute. However, as Kise's time began to run out, it became increasingly clear it was time to switch players out. Murasakibara was beaten at this point and needed his break and so did Nijimura, who wasn't quite used to this level of play. Alas, Kise, Murasakibara and Nijimura were switched out for Kuroko, Kagami and Aomine.

Just like with the Midorima and Kise combo, it quickly became apparent that the Kuroko, Kagami and Aomine one would go the same way before the end of the match. The Jabberwocks easily figured out how to get around Kuroko's passes, having played him in the first half as well. And without him, it was just a matter of overpowering the other two, which wasn't much of a problem for the Americans.

Lucy watched worriedly at the progression of the match. They had been keeping up with the Jabberwocks every sine Akashi was caught in the double-team, but nothing more than that. They only kept up, keeping the gap the same. If they were to win.. They would need Akashi. That was the only way they could pull ahead.

And as it was right now.. She really wanted them to win. Not because of her bias towards them or because the Jabberwocks were idiots. No, it was because of what kind of chaos would ensue, ona scale only ever seen in Fairy Tail, since they were here now, should they lose.

Just as she'd finished that thought, her gaze met Akashi's. He either read her thoughts from her most likely desperate expression or was just frustrated himself with the lack of progress, because a quite significant change happened in him.

He closed his mismatched eyes for a second, and as he opened them again, they revealed that he was back to his original self.

Lucy frowned in confusion. What was he doing? She had no doubt - no, she _knew_ that he knew these guys already had this side of him completely figured out. If he knew that, why was he doing this? They still hadn't figured the other side of him out completely yet. He had much better chances that way than with the original… She was completely sure that he knew this too. She just.. Really didn't understand what he was thinking right now at all.

That was when she noticed the intensity his red eyes burned with. It wasn't only that he seemed more determined than ever. No. There was something else within the depths of them. A look he hadn't worn before, yet at the same time had.

It was the intensity of the Emperor Eyes.

How? That was the only word popping up in her mind. Those eyes belonged to the other Akashi exclusively, just like the perfect plays did to the original Akashi… So why was this Akashi now clearly with those eyes? It made no sense.

"Ah, I see." Midorima muttered to himself, though catching the blonde's attention either way. "I suppose this is how he truly is, both sides combined into one." He said thoughtfully.

She nodded along internally. That would explain why this him had the Emperor Eye and that he seemingly switched back to his original self… So then, were the abilities of both Akashi now all put together? But that'd also mean the two personalities would have merged somehow, right? Meaning Akashi no longer had a split personality and kept the abilities and perhaps also some traits from both sides. Talk about a power-up.

She had barely finished her last thought, when he proved her last sentence right by breaking out of the double-team put on him without any effort at all.

And not only that, he was in the Zone. And when Akashi was in the Zone, everyone on his team was in effect as well.

A wide smile spread out on the blonde's mouth. The Jabberwocks may be strong, but they wouldn't be strong enough to counter a full team in the Zone. Most especially not when it was these guys.

That may be lagging behind at the moment, but she had no doubt in her mind that the victory was theirs this time around as well. She had complete confidence in these guys, they would not let her down. They never did and they wouldn't this time either.

And slowly but surely, they fought down the gap between them. It wasn't just Akashi, it was the others as well. However, he played the perfect role of a captain, clearing the way for them, making the perfect passes of course, riling them up properly and easily guiding them all through whatever on-the-spot strategy he came up with.

The last ten second had been reached, and the score was now equal. The game had sped up to a point beyond any seen in the Winter Cup at all, the ball kept going from one team's hands to the other's and back again. They fought intently for the ball, going back and forth.

But the teams weren't equal. Her boys were the ones gaining ground here. And as there were only two seconds left of the game, Kuroko managed to get the ball, sending one of his crazy Ignite Passes down to Akashi, who immediately jumped up and dunked despite his small stature, giving them the victory.

Lucy along with the other three on the bench and Momoi immediately sprung up from it and charged at the ones on the court, who were already celebrating their win.

"I knew you could do it!" She said, high-fiving Aomine, who was the first person she reached. "You did awesome, Daiki-chan!" She smiled widely.

He grinned back at her. "Yeah, and it was all for my sister." He said, reaching out and ruffling her hair affectionately. That was really the only thing he dared, knowing her current condition.

Their conversation was interrupted, when Momoi came charging right at the blue haired guy, immediately latching onto him as a koala would a tree. "You won!" She squealed.

With Momoi there, Lucy quickly turned around to the next person. Seeing Akashi approaching the group that was his comrades, she decided to do much like Momoi had - though without the koala-part. She ran straight up and pulled the surprised guy into a hug. "Congratulations on your win, Seijuro!" She said, smiling at how gently he reciprocated her hug, careful to the point of barely even touching her.

"It was no problem. This was a match we could not allow ourselves to lose." He said, smiling despite himself. "I am glad we won." He said and felt that he actually meant it. It had either been a long time since, or it never happened, because he couldn't remember the last time he actually felt anything when winning. But this time.. This time he was happy they won. Quite honestly though, loss wasn't an option this time around.

She smiled, knowing what had run through his head when he said that. "I'm glad to hear that!" She said and pulled a little away from the hug. "I'm happy you won too." She said honestly.

The two turned to walk back to the rest of the team, who had somehow all gathered together close to their bench, probably because of the water there. None of them could release the smiles on their faces. Smiles of relief.

That was until Lucy felt someone grab her hair from behind. Before she could do anything about it, a painfully rough yank got her stumbling backwards with a gasp of both surprise and pain.

One that made Akashi immediately whirl around, seeing Silver standing with the blonde's golden locks held firmly in his grasp. "What do you think you are doing, Jason Silver?" He asked him venomously.

Silver cackled and hoisted the girl up to stand at full height beside him. "Well what does it look like, twerp?" He asked, pulling the hurting blonde so close into his side she could barely breathe, much less make any moves to break free, what with his huge arm restricting her movement even further.

"Oi! Bastard! Get your disgusting hands off her!" Aomine yelled out, the entire group having, obviously, heard what was going on.

Kuroko stepped forward again. "We made a deal! You lost, so let go of Lucy!" He yelled at them, having raised his voice for the first time in a long while.

"Why? It's not like she's resisting me at all." He laughed, tightening his grip on her even further when she moved to try and push him away. "Besides, what made you think we were about to keep up our end of the deal at all? You should really know better, kid." He laughed at Kuroko. She groaned in irritation at both him and herself. If only she hadn't been injured like that… Then there wouldn't be a problem right now.

Gajeel smirked as he approached the group of people which were the blonde friends. "Gihi, don't worry about her. She can take that guy down any day." He said, having fought her on so many occasions now. Once in a while, she'd even been the one to win. His statement was backed up by the agreeing nods of the other three.

Nijimura turned around and looked at him. "At any other point in time, I wouldn't worry about her, but she's injured right now, can't you see?" He asked, looking at the blonde again with a worried frown. "She's at the verge of passing out…" He explained.

The three looked at him for a short moment longer, before all their attention whipped back to Lucy again, who, as that black haired guy had said, really didn't look like she had much fight left in her. "…What?" Natsu asked, though he knew what was going on. Lucy never was one to show pain, and if she saw all of these people as her own smaller siblings, and knew they couldn't beat Silver any time soon, she wouldn't be showing them any hint of her suffering. But right now… Her eyebrows were drawn together and her eyes clenched shut. "He's not kidding." He concluded.

And right as he was, black dots were beginning to fill her vision. The pain of being pulled so close to Silver, with such a rough grip, it was too much for her to handle right now. She couldn't stay conscious for much longer.

She glanced up at all of the people she knew and had come to love. Kagami and Aomine were already charging forward angrily, but was intercepted by two of the others from his team, which made him cackle again.

No. If this continued, they may be hurt. And.. Her teammates would come to her rescue again. She wanted to reassure them she was all right. If she couldn't do this, fight off a single guy, then she was truly weak.

Doing as she had seen so Natsu do so many times already, she took a risk. She twisted around in Silver's grip in a way that sent waves of pure agony throughout her spine and all the way through her body. She then grabbed his hand, which had made itself comfortable around her waist and pushed for all she was worth.

However… Her worth wasn't that great at the moment, he didn't seem to budge at all. Instead, he laughed at her. "Forget it, girl. You're not going anywhere." He said, pulling her even closer, much to her suffering. "You're going to be min-"

He was cut off when a foot connected straight with his face and stayed there. "Get in line, you bastard." A very recognizable voice told her captor. She smiled to herself internally, not having the strength to do it externally as she went limp. To think Haizaki would be the one to save her.

 **Soooo… That's the end of chapter 74, hope you liked it! And can I please get an applause for being out on time?! (It's not like I expected to be done with this shiet by Wednesday or anything like that. Psh. What are you talking about? - I never expected it to be this long, sorry)  
Hope this raised just a few questions among you. For some, who have not read the spin-off, why the GoM are playing against the Jabberwocks at all would be a good start. However, no matter who you are, the deal Kuroko mentioned should have you just a little curious :3**

 **So yes, I decided Haizaki should have a grand entrance here. Really liked that part myself.  
The match, well, lemme first say, I didn't follow the manga in the slightest with this one, not even the strategizing-thing and all, it was all just something I put out there 'cause I can. Plsdontroastmeoverafire!**

 **Mmhhhh…. As for the chapters.. Well. Next week I will be putting up the final chapter, although I guess that could be hard to believe going by the end of this chapter XD  
Anywho, a week after that, I will be doing some cleaning around this story. Deleting A/N's and putting chapter 74 together. This is just a temporary solution so that all of you may have the possibility to review, should you wish it. Aaaaaand then I'm going to actually, finally proofread the five million chapters I've skipped proofreading, so that'll be done for once..  
Welp, more details will probably be coming out next week ^-^**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Again. And thanks for reviewing, following, favoriting and reading, of course! See you next week~**

 **~Line464d**


	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75**

 **Last chapter, guys~**

 **I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!  
Disclaimer: If I owned any of these two stories, this whole thing would not have been a thing.**

 **Earth~**

"Haizaki…?" Murasakibara asked, the only one still with his composure after the surprise arrival. To which he simply got a smirk, a wink and a two-fingered salute-slash-greeting gesture from the guy. Who still had his foot planted in Silver's face.

However, that came to an end quickly, when the guy both tripped the cornrowed guy with a low sweep of his foot _and_ pushed him at the same time. "Get your fucking foot outta my face, you fucking disgusting monkey!" He exclaimed as the guy fell to his ass on the ground roughly.

Haizaki grunted painfully when he connected with the ground. Yet still, not even this could remove the smirk from his face. "Tch, this is nothing compared to what she sent me through -" He said, grinning even wider. "And probably even less compared to what those four demons in the back are gonna do to ya." He almost laughed.

As if to validate his point, a sword came flying through the air with expert precision and at a speed none of the Earthlings could even react to. Looking up, what Silver saw was a big guy, shadows seeping off of him, and seemingly with spikes down his arms, one with an aura of the coldest blizzards surrounding him, one with blazing fires licking up his skin angrily and finally someone who might as well have been the daughter of Satan himself.

"I strongly advise you to let the woman go." An authoritative, womanly voice called out sternly from the demon daughter. A terrifying look of hate and the promise of certain death spread on her face ominously as blood trickled down from Silver's cheek, where her sword had cut clean through in its passage. "If you know what's good for you, that is." She finished off darkly.

Despite the fact that a sword had just flown past and cut him at the speed it had, the Jabberwock ace remained largely unaffected by it. "And what if I don't?" He asked challengingly, clearly not aware that these people were not ones to be trifled with. Especially not in this matter.

In a flash of movement, Natsu's flaming hand was spread out on the guy's face, only allowing the bare minimum of vision for the target to see. "You will be burnt to a crisp where you stand. Alive." He stated darkly, his voice so deep and growling it could have belonged to a demon.

Likewise, Gajeel also appeared behind Silver in an instant. "Of course -" He said, moving his arm, which was now a sword, to the man's neck. "That'll be after we've cut off any limbs unnecessary in keeping you alive." He grinned darkly, thoroughly enjoying the idea of it. "One. By. One." He said slowly, pronouncing every word clearly, only making it all that much more frightening.

Gray also teleported - or so it seemed to the onlookers - along with the rest of the guys, his hand held on the arm Silver was holding Lucy with. "You will be frozen to the core. Until you can't breathe." He stated dangerously, letting ice spread out on the man's arm in a thin layer.

Finally, Erza approached the man slowly, each of her already heavy steps accentuated by the rustling of her armor and the dead silence in the area. The Miracles and company quickly moved away to create a direct path for the redhead, whose gaze didn't as much as flicker away from her target, even as a new sword came into existence in her hand.

It seemed like forever, yet at the same time only a single moment, had passed, when she reached him. She just as slowly raised her sword-arm, until the point was at his heart, poking into his shirt. Her face was the most terrifying out of the four, the promise it held completely clear.

"You will learn the consequences of threatening those dear to us. What it means to be our enemy." She said, the darkest of looks passing across her face. "And you will never forget it." She promised him.

Silence ruled between everyone there - luckily most of the crowd had dispersed at this point, the results having already been shown. What broke it was Silver's shaky whimpers of the purest of fear as his grip loosened on the blonde girl, letting her fall almost lifelessly into the arms of the stripper. Slowly, he raised his hands, clearly trembling in fear, already muttering about mercy.

"Dang it… She wasn't kidding when she said those guys could get overly overprotective of her…" Kagami muttered to those around him, his eyes impossible wide as he watched the scene, which might as well have been taken right out of a book, play out in front of him.

Aomine, who was next to him, nodded in agreement, caught in a stupor of his own. "Yeah. Those guys make her seem like an adorable kitten.." He said.

Like with the two of them, it also slowly settled in on the rest of their minds, that the situations these people faced were no laughing matter. They were life and death situations. No one would threaten with things in the way they did, where it was obvious to anyone that they would go through with it, unless they had been hardened by such experiences. And Lucy was probably no different.

"Lucy!" The dark haired, almost naked, guy called, when he found that the blonde Celestial mage would not wake up from her unconscious state, her eyes closed in what looked to be a strained sleep. "Hey, wake up..!" He said with worry and urgency in his voice.

The other three, having heard the Ice mage's exclamation immediately began threatening with death and destruction on the almost poor, American guy, who was already scared shitless.

That was until Akashi quickly stepped forward, carefully approaching the crazed guild members as if they were wild animals, actually a little worried for his own safety. "Please do calm down." He asked them calmly. When all five - even Silver - turned to him, he slowly continued as he kept going a little closer. "Her being unconscious now is not only his doing." He told them, glancing towards Silver momentarily.

As if in silent agreement, Gajeel and Erza both stepped away from him as Natsu punched him off, into his frozen teammates in the back. He took down all pins, getting a strike. He didn't seem to care much though, as he turned all of his attention to Akashi, along with the others, as if urging him to explain what was going on.

Alas, he had to elaborate. "In the course of the first week she was here-" He started out, not making any stops, even though he got strange faces from the four of them. Figuring it was the time differences, he continued. "She passed out quite a lot." He told them. "It would primarily be due to her overworking herself, an occurrence I am sure you have also experienced her doing yourselves, or stressing a single wound beyond its limits." He said, getting a collective nod from them. By now, he was standing just a pair of small meters away from Gray and Lucy. "Usually, placing a heated towel or the like over her forehead would wake her up relatively fast." He explained, shifting his gaze from Gray and Lucy to Natsu. "However, I wager that should not be necessary this time around." He said.

Having apparently understood what he meant, Natsu went and was about to pick the blonde up from Gray's arms, when the captain of the basketball players quickly stopped them again.

"Please, Natsu, do be careful. She has a large injury on her back. From what I have gathered, it is still quite sore and she most likely stressed it just now." He added quickly, having noticed it was immediately after having attempted to wring herself out of Silver's grasp that she lost consciousness. A reckless action for her to take, given her circumstance.

With another silent nod, Gray carefully helped the Celestial mage into the Dragon Slayer's arms, doing his best not to put any strain on the back whatsoever in the process. When she was safely delivered there, he turned to the other Dragon Slayer present. "I knew we should have brought Wendy instead of you, you damn tin can." He grumbled.

Gajeel scowled right back challengingly. "Sure, but who of us do you think made that bastard shit his pants?" He asked, but before Gray got the chance to reply, he did it himself. "Yeah, that's right. Not you." He said, looking to Erza, whose gaze had remained on Akashi.

"If you don't mind my saying." She started out, getting the other redhead's attention. "You seem awfully aware of her current situation." She commented, clearly already having an idea why.

The captain of the team - which was more or less silently watching everything play out from the back, curious to see the actual team-dynamics rather than just hear about it - nodded. "Indeed. She has been staying with me this past month since.. The incident." He confirmed for her.

With this, Midorima also stepped into the spotlight, seeing as the four were sending Akashi suspicious, judgmental glances. "In unison, we deemed that she stay with Akashi for several reasons." He stated, correcting his glasses as usual, the reflected sun hiding his eyes from view. "First, Lucy was in no condition to be by herself, so she had to stay with one of us, since her grandmother is out on a trip and away from home." He stated. "Second, she would need a place in which she could get some proper rest. That naturally excludes any of us, who have siblings of any kind. Third, Akashi's father and the entire staff in their household already know Lucy from previous visits in the past. Fourth, the primary maid of the house and Akashi's father himself now both know of Lucy's origins and her current situation." He summed up, tipping his head up enough to make his green eyes visible through his glasses again. "With all of this in mind, and the fact that this was where we were, when we discussed this matter, it was the most reasonable solution to let her stay there until she would be ready and able to live and work properly on her own." He finalized.

A moment of considering the explanation silenced the Fairy Tail mages for a moment. Natsu looked down at the girl in his arms, who visibly relaxed with the warmth he exuded, and nodded to them. "It was the right decision you made… Thank you for taking so good care of her." He thanked them all with a slightly lowered voice, pure sincerity showing in his serious expression.

The tone of his voice and his uncharacteristic expression took even the three, who had come here with him, by slight surprise. Before long, they wore similar looks as well though, and nodded in agreement with what he said having the same thoughts on the subject as he did.

More so than before, it was blatantly obvious how much these people cared for the little blonde and how much they had worried for her in her absence. The relief of seeing she was all right and had been taken care of was clear to them all.

"So.." Haizaki said, his arms crossed as he stared at the four newcomers. "Who the hell are you people?" he asked them with his eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

"Isn't it obvious to you yet?" Aomine asked, hands shoved into his pockets. "Those four are Heartfilia's family." He said, nodding towards them with his head.

This made the other eyebrows rise on the black haired guy's face. "Oh really, now?" he asked incredulously. Though, looking at where the female knight's sword was still stuck in the ground, he seemed to lose that look of disbelief.

"Uhm.." Momoi said, breaking the momentary silence. "Shouldn't we be getting Lucy-chan inside somewhere?" She asked, looking worriedly at the blonde in Natsu's arms.

"Probably." Kagami agreed, looking the blonde over once as well before nodding. "I live close by, let's go there for now." He suggested. The idea was widely agreed upon by everyone. And so, that's where they went.

 **Later~**

It had only taken a few minutes for them to reach Kagami's apartment. Lucy had still not woken up by the time they'd arrived there, so Natsu brought her into the bedroom - after getting Kagami's permission, of course - and opted to stay there till she woke up, where he would tell her all that she had missed as a lot had happened since then. So everyone else was gathered outside, leaving the two best friends to themselves in there, giving her the calm she needed at the moment.

When everyone had gotten comfortable in the living room, Nijimura finally asked the question they'd all been wanting an answer to this last month. "So.. What happened to her back there?" He asked slowly, but curiously. She had not told them anything, so they would have to ask these guys, if they wanted an answer.

Gray sighed lightly, having seen this question coming. "Well… There's not really an easy way to say this, bu-"

"She was tortured." Gajeel bluntly cut him off. When Erza sent him a hard look, he simply shrugged "Just thought they should know the truth after all that's been going on." He reasoned.

"T-tortured..?!" Momoi asked, horrified at the news of what had actually happened to her blonde friend. Similar expressions of surprise, horror and disbelief were mirrored on the other's faces.

Gray nodded, giving the Iron Dragon Slayer an annoyed scowl. "Yes, tortured. To keep it short, she was set to fight underwater with what turned out to be the strongest and most sadistic of our enemies. The bitch kept Lucy just barely conscious for five minutes straight while she blasted her with her magic." He said, just barely snarling the last bit out.

Kise looked at them with a confused frown. "But.. Couldn't you have saved her from it? Interfered before it got this bad?" He asked them.

This time it was Erza's turn to sigh, shaking her head. "No, we could not do that. It would compromise our participation in the Games and would have most likely resulted in our being pulled out of it altogether." She told them, a shameful expression on her face.

Gray jabbed a thumb backwards, to the room the other two were currently staying in. "Not that that idiot didn't make several attempts, until the judges finally called it all off." He said, rolling his eyes lightly.

"Surely, her well-being is more important to you than a mere game and title." Midorima said almost judgmentally.

Gajeel actually glared at the guy. "Of course she fucking is! But it wasn't _just_ a 'mere game' on the line here. It was out whole damn country." He told them angrily, angry that they would think such of them. "A lot of strange shit was happening, and it was way bigger than that shitty tournament." He said, having physically calmed down, though his words remained crass.

The looks of sudden understanding made Erza nod instead. "Even if it is Lucy, to hold a single life up against millions, the choice should still be clear.." She stated steadily. "That, however, does not necessarily make it any easier to choose." She then added.

A long, heavy silence settled over all of them, as they all considered the words that had just been spoken. They could faintly hear that Lucy was already conscious and conversing calmly with Natsu in the other room, but not much reaction came out of the revelation.

"So, what kind of bet is it you made with those idiots back there? On the court." Gray finally asked, intentionally pulling all of them out of their trances.

Nijimura was the one to answer this, picking up the mantle. "Well, it all started with some of our former teammates playing against and losing to them a week ago..." He started out. "It wasn't just a loss though. Those guys had obviously been playing around with them throughout the entire match, played them completely for fools, humiliating them so thoroughly neither Kuroko nor Lucy could stay still…

 _ **Flashback~**_

" _Don't you guys think you went a little over the line?" Kuroko asked, having broken through the crowd quicker than anyone could stop him, and was now standing between the Jabberwocks and their broken opponents._

 _One from the American team jumped at the little, blue haired guy's sudden appearance on the court. "What the hell?!"_

 _Their blonde captain, though, took it pretty coolly. "Not really." He said, valuing Kuroko with a patronizing look. "Why should I take monkeys like them seriously? You all need to realize your inferiority and stay away from your superiors." He said slowly. "A match like this one really just makes me want to puke." He said tiredly. Not the exhausted kind of tired, the annoyed kind. "Everyone in this country who's just pretending to play basketball like these monkeys should just go and kill themselves." He said, loud enough for everyone to hear._

 _Kuroko frowned at the explanation. "But what's wrong with a monkey playing basketballs?" He asked almost innocently. "Last I checked, there were no such requirements to play." He countered, his gaze determined._

 _The ace of the team, Silver, grinned. "Oh, watch out now, kid. We're already way past your bedtime, I'm sure your mama back home is worried about you." He laughed._

 _Nash glared at the much smaller guy. "To think that's all you had to say with your shitty ass English…" It was obvious from afar that the guy was preparing to kick Kuroko, but there was no doubt that it was in a blind spot for him._

 _So when the guy began swinging his leg up, the target was not ready for it at all. A rush of air and an impact later, Kuroko stood with wide eyes. Not because he had just received an impact. It was because he hadn't._

 _In front of him stood a blonde girl, Nash's foot in her hand. "While I get that you're all thorough assholes…" She paused as she pointedly threw his foot away, her arm and whole body trembled with the strain she'd forced it to endure by catching that kick. "That doesn't give you any right to physically or mentally harm someone the way you have and almost did." She told them._

 _None of the ones who knew her could see her expression, but they all had a pretty good idea of what it looked like. Determined and cold to those who didn't know her, her eyes swimming with suppressed pain to those who did. She was pushing herself way past her current limits right now, but it didn't matter to her at all. They knew her that well at least._

 _But they also knew that she couldn't do anything more now, and all of the Miracles and company quickly fought their way through the crowd, towards the two of their friends in the middle of the Court. Meanwhile, Kuroko could do nothing but mutter her name in surprise and worry, seeing how much that kick had really taken out of her._

" _Ohh~ She's a feisty one." Silver commented quite lecherously, licking his lips for emphasis. "Little tiny, but that's not a problem at all." He continued while the other Jabberwocks laughed about her having broken her arm if Nash had given it his all._

 _All the while, Nash gave the blonde a hard, evaluating look, clearly knowing something his teammates didn't and being just a little more serious about the whole thing._

 _Unfortunately, his evaluation reached the same conclusion as the Generation of Miracle's had - she was now virtually defenseless, and Kuroko was not a fight-oriented person in the slightest. Alas, this obviously lead to him having more or less free access to get to her and rather violently pull her head back by the hair roughly._

" _I don't give a fuck about what kind of monkey it is, its opinion_ never _. Fucking. Matters." He spat in her face angrily. The defiant look she was probably still giving him was clearly only making him angrier._

 _Before he got the chance to do anything about it though, he was forced to move back by the incoming punch from the first person, who had reached them. "Keep the fuck away from her, fucker." Aomine growled at him, not moving to do anything further, as his punch had had the desired effect, even if it didn't connect, as the blonde was freely pulled back by their worrywart of a former captain. A subtitle Nijimura still proved worthy of in this very moment, and had gained sometime during this last little month._

 _Along with him came also the rest, making for a pretty solid back-up. Midorima was the first to break the laughs of the other team. "I suggest we solve this conflict in a more civilized manner." He spoke up._

 _Akashi nodded, knowing what the green haired guy was thinking. "Indeed. I suggest a match." He boldly stated, even though he had just seen the former captain of some of the schools represented, being completely mauled by this very team._

 _Kise nodded as well, pointing at the other team. "Yeah. If you guys lose, you're going to go all the damn way back to your own country and never set foot in Japan ever again!" He added in._

" _Interesting." Nash admitted, genuinely curious about the turn of events. "In that case, when you lose, you are going to grovel at our feet and beg for forgiveness for thinking yourselves on par with us." He said, hitting it where it would hurt - in their pride._

" _And." Silver said, smirk still in place. "We get the girl as well." He said, breaking out laughing at the end of it._

 _This made all of them hesitate. Before they had the possibility of denying it and figuring something else out though, the girl in question broke out of the worrywart's grip on her and looked into the blonde bastard's eyes._

" _That's a deal."_

 **Flashback end~**

… That's why we played them today." Nijimura sighed, ruffling with his hair.

"Yup, sounds like Bunny-Girl." Gajeel confirmed. "Ain't no stoppin' her when she's put her mind to something." He grinned. "Taught her well, didn't I? Gihi!"

As if on que, the door to Kagami's bedroom opened up, revealing the two, the blonde with that exact determined look on her face they had just been talking about. She had put her mind to something. "I'm going back to Earthland." She declared out loud.

A silence washed over them for a moment, a 'calm before the storm'-feeling to it. When the moment ended, noise exploded in the room. Filled with protests and questions.

That was until Nijimura came with a comment unlike the others. "That's a good decision." He agreed, nodding.

Aomine glared at him. "What the hell?! How can you say something like that?!" He exclaimed loudly.

Momoi was quick to voice her opinion as well. "I think Nijimura is right.." She said, now also being the one to get all the attention. She looked at the blonde with a little smile. "I'll miss you for sure, Lucy-chan, but it is for the best." She said.

Midorima also saw the perks of this solution. "Indeed. In fact, not only is her real family over there, she will heal much quicker and not suffer from magic depletion as Shirogane Kozo did, if she's not here." He summed up.

"Guys…" Lucy said, realizing they had all gotten the wrong idea about things.

"Yeah." Momoi nodded. "And creeps like that Silver guy wouldn't be a problem either, since she would have her magic." She pointed out.

"Guys." Lucy said a little more insistently, though to no avail.

"Those _and_ Haizaki." Aomine commented, smirking at the guy.

"Oi. Don't group me in with bastards like him." Haizaki said, though a smirk appeared on his face. "I'm not a pussy, who gives up just like that." He added.

"GUYS!" Lucy finally yelled, getting their attention at last. "You've all gotten the wrong idea." She reassured them, an easy smile on her lips. "I won't be leaving and disappearing forever, I'm going back to learn how to open a gate for myself to this world." She explained.

"Huh…?" Murasakibara grunted from where he sat.

"Yeah." She confirmed. "Mary, you know, the cafeteria lady, was apparently a Celestial mage as well all along and has discovered a method with which she can travel between this world and Earthland through gates like the ones I summon my Spirits with." She said, smiling grandly. "So I'm going to go back to Earthland to train myself until I get the hang of it. And then, when I have, we will all be having a party!" She said excitedly, having just decided this with Natsu a moment ago.

Before anyone could say anything in response, a golden glow brought with it none other than the Lion Spirit himself. "Of course!" He said, having apparently been eavesdropping on them in his own world all along. "And the Spirit King will be hosting it since you asked to postpone the previous one!" He said with a grand smile on his lips and exaggerated arm-gestures.

"Yosh! That sounds awesome!" Natsu said, small embers flying from his mouth as they usually would when he was like this.

"That's amazing, Lucchi! I hope you get it down quickly. It'll be no fun without you around!" Kise said excitedly.

Akashi nodded. "Yes. Trouble, and so excitement, always does seem to follow you around." He added, getting agreeing nods from all of them. "It will be quite empty without you around back home, I should think." He said with a much lower voice.

"Aw.." Lucy almost cooed, deeply touched by their quick agreement and acceptance of the situation as well as their understanding. "I'm going to miss you all too." She reassured them. "Maybe even you, Daisuki-chan." She said with a teasing smile, to which she was rewarded an eye-roll.

Gajeel grunted. "This is all really touching, but we seriously gotta run. We've got five minutes." He pointed out to his fellow guild members.

"Oh, shit. Completely forgot about that.." Gray said,, quickly jumping out of his seat along with Erza. "Natsu, take Lucy." He ordered as all of them were already heading towards the balcony, turning to everyone in the room right before exiting. "Nice meeting you all." He said, before he and the others jumped down from the third floor, Natsu with Lucy under his arms, as if that was normal.

"… What?" Kuroko muttered.

 **Some time later~**

It had already been several weeks since Lucy had suddenly been hauled off by her teammates, and they had not heard a single thing from her at all. It gave them some time to study properly though, since there wasn't much action on the basketball-front on this side of the winter.

Spring vacation was fast approaching, but Akashi had made sure to keep his schedule as empty as at all possible in the hopes that the blonde bundle of energy would show up sometime soon, though his expectations weren't high.

He was soon proved wrong, when - in the middle of his reading a book on history - a strange vortex appeared in his room with a pop, almost making him fall out of his seat in surprise. It was black with a hint of dark blue and small dots of whitish gold, much like stars, seemed to be swirling around in it.

Just as he was about to go closer to inspect what was going on in front of him, the blonde he had just been thinking about jumped right out of the portal, a bright smile on her face.

"Akashi! It's been so long!" She said excitedly, catching him in a hug before he fully understood what was going on. "I've been missing you!" She said, excitement still flowing off of her in steady waves.

"Yeah… Missed you too." He said a little hesitantly, just barely managing to reciprocate the hug in time for her to pull away again and holding a bunch of strange clothes out to him.

"Please, wear these. Otherwise it'll be impossible for you to go to the Spirit World." She said, still smiling.

He slowly took the odd clothing, mainly the colors of royal blue, gold and white, and soon noticed those were the exact colors she was wearing as well. He nodded and quickly pulled on the jacket, trouser and shoes, her eagerness turning out to be quite contagious.

When he had put it all on, Lucy immediately took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the vortex. "Come on, everyone's waiting!" She said, just before the both of them disappeared into the portal, which would pop out of existence a moment later.

 **END**

 **So that's that, guys. The end of the story. Heh, strange feeling, kinda like when you finish an awesome series and just wonder what the hell's going to be happening with your life now. I'm sure you can relate XD**

 **Of course, as usual, I hope you liked it!  
To answer a few questions I know will be popping up, then; No, there are no actual pairings in this one. Not officially, anyway. The ending is as open as it is, because I want you guys to imagine and figure out what's going to happen from now on by yourselves, and whether she'll be ending up with anyone at all. All up to you~ Alas, I will not be making a sequel either, to anyone wondering. It wouldn't be living up to the same standards the first one has, so it'd really just be a shame.  
And I'm sure the question of what I'll be doing now will also be asked. Well. As it is, I am considering actually beginning on a novel, an **_**actual**_ **novel, not a fanfiction at novel-length. This site's been acting as a place for me to practice my writing, and I've reached a point, where I feel like my skills are pretty good, without sounding too arrogant. So yeah… That'll leave less time to do something here, but it won't be leaving no time.  
I have a pair of stories rolling around in my mind, some minor ones and some major ones. One of the main contenders if a Bleach and Fairy Tail crossover. Without spoiling too much, I can say it's going to be getting a little dark, if nothing changes, and there'll be a pairing for sure. Nothing's entirely settled though, and I don't know when or if it's going to be a thing. So have patience with me~ Might have to focus on school and upcoming exams and whatnot first though :/ **

**Hope you can forgive me for that at least, don't really got any choice if I want to have just a fairly proper life, y'know :P  
Mmm…. Nothing much else to say. Ask any question you might have in the reviews, and I'll be doing my best to actually reply to them for once. **

**Oh, yes, of course. THANK YOU! All of you. Especially the loyal yous. I love all of you, honestly, and it is a fact that this story would not have been finished without your support. Some of these guys (read: chapters) really were heavy to get done, and Writer's Block was waiting right around the corner, so thank you so much for supporting me throughout it all.  
As of now, there are 241 favorites, 253 followers and all of 711 reviews to this story! I'd say that's a success, since crossovers usually don't get all that much appreciation, being that some may not know the other series and so on and so forth. And that's most definitely all thanks to you. And it's in two communities as well! Now, last I checked, it wasn't part of a single one, so that's just absolutely fantastic. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH EVERYONE!**

 **And for the last time on this one;  
~Line464d**


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